The authorities have introduced several security measures in connection with today’s election. The mobile network is down to “maintain law and order”. The borders with Iran and Afghanistan are closed, and more than 650,000 personnel have been deployed to strengthen security around the election. Here’s what you need to know about today’s election in the world’s fifth most populous country. The choice in numbers There are 240 million people living in Pakistan. Of these, 128 million have the right to vote. They will be able to vote at more than 90,000 polling stations across the country. 266 representatives are to be elected to the National Assembly. More than 5,000 candidates from 167 registered parties are fighting for these seats. In addition, there are local elections that will determine who will govern Pakistan’s four provinces. There are more than 90,000 polling stations across the country. Here is one of the polling stations in Islamabad. Photo: FAROOQ NAEEM / AFP Pakistan has a very young population. 2/3 under 30 years of age. The ailing economy is one of the reasons why many young Pakistanis do not see a future in their home country. Last year, Pakistan experienced a record high brain drain. 800,000 Pakistanis went abroad to try their luck. 100,000 of these were well-educated doctors, nurses, engineers and IT experts. Who has the fight been between? The political tug-of-war has primarily been between the parties of two ex-prime ministers: Imran Khan’s PTI, and Nawas Sharif’s PML (N). In addition to the country’s powerful army. We will return to them a little later. Imran Khan is Pakistan’s most popular politician. He made a snap election in 2018, and ruled the country until 2022 when he was removed in a vote of no confidence in parliament. The former cricket star believes he was removed in a conspiracy orchestrated by Pakistan’s powerful army in collaboration with the United States, of which Khan was highly critical. For the past two years, he has been chased around the legal system, with almost 200 charges hanging over him, including corruption, leaking state secrets and terrorism. Just weeks before election day, the 71-year-old and his wife were sentenced to many years in prison. Thus he also lost the right to stand for election. Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. The picture is from May last year, when they appealed an earlier decision on corruption. Photo: AFP His supporters are refused to hold election meetings. Mention of his party has been banned in the media. Candidates from his party have been physically refused to register their candidacy. Many have been abducted and thrown into prison. After a while, they call in for press conferences outside courtrooms, or prisons. Here they suddenly declare that they are giving up on politics, or that they are changing parties. In Pakistan, this is referred to as a “software update”. On the opposite side is ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He has ruled Pakistan three times in the past. He and his family are one of Pakistan’s richest. Before the last election in 2018, Nawaz Sharif experienced exactly the same thing as Imran Khan. Three weeks before election day, he too was sentenced to ten years in prison for corruption. In addition, he was denied the right to hold public positions. Nawaz Sharif went abroad after being sentenced to several years in prison for corruption in 2018. Photo: FAYAZ AZIZ / Reuters But during this year’s election campaign, both sentences were overturned by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Thus, the “lion of Punjab” could return from his political exile in London and make a political comeback. The 74-year-old’s supporters believe that he is the one who can get Pakistan out of the economic chaos. They point to the Sharif family’s business acumen, that they have ensured economic growth, and upgraded roads and other critical infrastructure during the times they have ruled Pakistan. AFP Nawaz Sharif, PML(N) Nawaz Sharif is a familiar name to most Pakistanis, and is one of three candidates that Pakistanis can vote for in this year’s elections. He is a former prime minister, but had to resign in 2017 following revelations in the Panama Papers document leak. Sharif has previously been banned from running for life, but the Supreme Court decided to overturn this in January this year. He leads the conservative center party PML (N) AFP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPPBilawal Bhutto Zardari is the son of former Prime Minister Benezir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari. He is the leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and is the country’s former foreign minister. The PPP is a social democratic party, and is the second largest party in the Pakistani Senate. Zardari has been criticized for not being qualified for the position of leader, with many believing that he has inherited the position. Reuters Fazal-ur-Rehman, JUIFazal-ur-Rehman heads the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, often shortened to JUI. JUI is a conservative Islamist party, and supported the no-confidence motion that removed Imran Khan from power in 2022. Rehman is perceived as a pro-Taliban candidate and has publicly called for international recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government. What role has Pakistan’s mighty army played? The army has always denied meddling in politics, but according to most experts, it is an open secret that the generals are the kingmakers of Pakistani politics. In the last 40-50 years, no politician has been able to stand for election as prime minister without direct or indirect support from the military. This applies to both Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif and many before them. The army sees itself as a stabilizing force that holds nuclear power Pakistan together. Whenever the generals feel that someone threatens this stability, or their grip on power, prime ministers are removed either through a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly, corruption cases in the courts, or murder. Supporters of Imran Khan have been disappointed that the former cricket star cannot stand for election Photo: AP In the late 1970s, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death and hanged, allegedly for having been behind the murder of a political opponent, before the army took over the governance of the country. Pakistan has existed as a state for 77 years. Almost half of that time the country has been ruled by the military. During the 2018 elections, it was Imran Khan who was the army’s favourite. He also had huge support among ordinary Pakistanis who liked that he wanted to create “naya Pakistan”, or a new Pakistan free from corruption and misrule. But when he fell foul of the military and began to criticize their interference in politics, he fell out of favor with the generals. Nawaz Sharif has experienced the same several times before he has been removed from power. But now Sharif is in the heat again with the military, and is therefore the favorite to win today’s election. The borders with Iran and Afghanistan are closed, and more than 650,000 personnel have been deployed to strengthen security around the election. This photo is from election day in Karachi. Photo: RIZWAN TABASSUM / AFP What are the biggest problems in Pakistan? Pakistan has enormous economic, political and social problems. But what is at the top of the agenda for both the authorities and the population is to get the country’s economy back on its feet. Pakistan is on the verge of bankruptcy. The foreign debt is a staggering NOK 1,300 billion. They owe large sums to neighboring China, among other things. Photo: AAMIR QURESHI / AFP Last year half of the state budget went to service the enormous debt. One of the first things the new rulers in the country must do is to secure a crisis package from the International Monetary Fund, IMF. If not, Pakistan risks defaulting on its debt. Inflation is 28 per cent. The price of food and electricity has skyrocketed in recent years. In addition, the security situation in Pakistan is fragile. Armed separatist groups in places such as the province of Baluchistan in the south, and terrorist groups in the border areas with Afghanistan create great instability in the country.
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The chaotic election in Pakistan – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
