Key Players of Pakistani Politics in Elections 2018
Imran Khan
Imran Khan, a cricket hero-turned politician, emerged as a strong player following the 2013 elections. He has been active in politics since 1996 but failed to make any significant gains until recently. Khan won his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party’s only seat in 2002 but boycotted the 2008 elections being disappointed with the electoral system. In 2013, his party emerged as the secondlargest political force in Pakistan, as PTI came to power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
Khan became popular when he campaigned against US operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly drone attacks. PTI is primarily seen as a Centrist party with an objective to create a welfare state with equal opportunities for education, health and employment.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is one of the youngest politicians who has been serving as the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with his father Asif Ali Zardari as co-chairman.
Bilawal, the son of assassinated exPrime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, was barely 19 when he was named chairman of the party after his mother was killed in 2007. He is also seen by some as the rightful heir to the seat being the grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s popular leader who founded PPP and served as its chairman until his execution in 1979.
It was only after 2009 that Bilawal began taking interest in Pakistani politics.
Bilawal Bhutto is now popular in his family home province Sindh but is also popular among Sindhi-Balochi towns.
Shehbaz Sharif
The younger brother of three-time former prime Nawaz Sharif is now seen as the second most popular leader of the PML-N and hoping to become next prime minister especially after the disqualification of his brother.
PML-N has elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new party leader and in case of a victory in forthcoming elections; he may be elected as the leader of the house even if for a brief period.
Shehbaz Sharif has a good record of progress and developments in Punjab where he has been chief minister for almost over a decade and has claimed the credit for mega projects.
PML-N, which used to be a dominant party in Punjab, has lost its support from religious voters following accusation that party was behind a reported reform in the application of the blasphemy laws.
Pervez Musharraf
The former president and army chief submitted his nomination papers from Chitral, Layyah (Punjab) and Karachi. They were filed by his representatives on the last day of submission just before the expiration of the given time.
Pakistan’s former military leader staged a coup d’état in 1999 after the then-premier Nawaz Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to remove Musharraf from the army’s leadership. He then served as one of Pakistan’s longestserving rulers as president from 2001 to 2008. Although popular for his approach of moderate Islam and social liberalism, certain controversies such as Lal Masjid incident, suspension of chief justice and Musharraf’s reputation as US ally undermined his political career.