If he manages to pull through, a relatively new political party will be ahead of the two established political parties Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML (N)), led by Nawaz Sharif’s brother and former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and Pakistan Peoples Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The election, in which Pakistanis voted for the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and the four provincial assemblies, marked only the second time in Pakistan’s 71-year history that one civilian government has handed power to another in the country of 200 million people. After an acrimonious campaign, polls opened in Pakistan on Wednesday to elect the country’s third straight civilian election, a first for this majority Muslim nation that has been directly or indirectly ruled by its military for most of its 71-year history. Women were also allegedly barred from voting at some polling stations yesterday by the military, which backs anti-feminist Mr Khan.
Voters in Pakistan go to the polls to elect the members of the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan.