The short version
- Pakistan holds elections to choose a new prime minister.
- Imran Khan, former prime minister and candidate, has been convicted in several cases and imprisoned.
- Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to win due to the support of the military.
Sea view
The polling stations closed at 17:00 local time, but it is expected that you will only get a clear picture of which way it is going on Friday.
The election is taking place at the same time as verdict after verdict against one of the candidates, Imran Khan (71), the country’s former prime minister.
While Khan is in prison, it is expected that another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif (74), will win.
The reason is that Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is opposed by the country’s real rulers, the military, according to The New York Times.
As recently as 2018, it was the exact opposite. Then it was Sharif who had fallen out of favor with the generals – while Khan was elected prime minister with their blessing.
POLITICIAN: Khalid Mahmood in 2021, when he gave a speech in Oslo City Hall during a celebration of 50 years of Pakistani labor immigration to Norway. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB
– Kicked in the east and west
– The premises are laid down by the military and the establishment. The parties don’t really work, but they are willing to play the roles they are assigned by the military, says Khalid Mahmood (64).
He came to Norway from Pakistan as a teenager, became a politician, served on the Oslo city council for 32 years for both the Conservative Party and the Labor Party – and follows Pakistani politics closely.
– Because the political parties in Pakistan lack the legitimacy to be real democratic representatives of the people, it becomes a sham democracy A situation where it looks like it is democracy, but where the actual decisions are made by others than the people or their elected representatives, explains he.
The controversies surrounding Imran Khan have created a different mood around this election.
– Khan has kicked in East and West and has been a charming and populist type of politics that tries to appeal to ordinary people by pitting them against the elite, often using simple solutions to complex problems. manager. But in terms of governance, Khan still has some results to show for it. It has been agitation and not constructive, says Mahmood.
THE CANDIDATES: Nawaz Sharif (former), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Imran Khan are the prominent candidates in the election. Photo: EPA / EPA / NTB
The candidates
- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (35): Pakistan’s foreign minister until an interim government took over late last year. Son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007. Represents the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
- Imran Khan (71): Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, former cricket star, who is now in prison with a ban on participating in politics. Khan denies the allegations. Represents the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is opposed by the Election Commission.
- Nawaz Sharif (74): Favorite and three-time former prime minister. Returned from a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK late last year. A lifetime ban from the policy was overturned by the court. Supported by the military. Represents Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).
Source: Al Jazeera
Show more VICTIMS: A man affected by a bomb attack on Wednesday this week is being helped into hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. Photo: – / AFP / NTB
Terrorist attack
128 million Pakistanis out of a population of 241 million are eligible to vote. There are 265 seats in the National Assembly, and the party that gets a majority also gets the Prime Minister.
But during the country’s 77-year history, no prime minister has sat out the five years for which they have been elected. This is because of military coups, murders, power struggles and accusations of corruption.
Also read: Pakistan in political chaos ahead of elections
The run-up to this election has been marked by terrorist attacks, but also strong measures against Imran Khan’s party, PTI.
He himself has been sentenced in four cases to a total of 34 years in prison and banned from holding political office.
Several PTI leaders have been arrested, prompting the UN to state this week that it was concerned by “the pattern of harassment, arrests and prolonged detention”.
COUNTING: Election workers sorting ballot papers after polls closed in Hyderabad on Thursday afternoon. Photo: NADEEM KHAWER / EPA / NTB
Mobile network down
The Election Commission in the country has also refused PTI to feature on the ballot papers with one logo. Each individual candidate must therefore have his own symbol, writes Al Jazeera.
The critics believe this is a means of making it more difficult for people to vote for PTI candidates in a country where many cannot read.
According to several international media, Pakistan’s Ministry of the Interior has today taken down mobile phone coverage, allegedly due to the security situation.
But according to The New York Timesanalysts believe is an attempt to stall the opposition’s ability to organize itself.
According to the newspaper, several of these also believe that the military will not let Nawaz Sharif become prime minister either, but rather ensure that his brother Shehbaz Sharif gets the job – as he is much more docile to the generals.
USA vs. China
Pakistan faces enormous economic challenges, with high inflation and national debt.
At the same time, a geopolitical turn towards China has emerged as an alternative to the US and the West – at least in the public debate. As Prime Minister, Imran Khan was very friendly towards China.
– Pakistan is dependent on help from the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and these are Western institutions. So the question is how much leeway one has, says Khalid Mahmood.
He points out that the entire Pakistani defense system is intertwined with the United States and that they face a number of security policy considerations vis-à-vis the neighboring countries India, Iran, Afghanistan and China.
– They would like there to be economic and political stability. Without this, it is difficult to defend oneself against external forces. That is why they cannot let populist actions destroy that relationship, says Mahmood.