ISLAMABAD: Millions of Pakistanis are expected to brave Taliban threats today (Saturday) to vote in the elections that mark a historic democratic transition in the nuclear-armed state ruled for half its history by the army.
Polling stations officially opened at 8:00 AM Saturday morning in Pakistan.
The Taliban have branded democracy un-Islamic and have waged a virulent campaign of attacks against the main secular parties, killing more than 120 people in what has been called the country's deadliest election in history.
Polls close at 5:00 pm, allowing an electorate of more than 86 million to vote for the 342-member national assembly and four provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan.
The vote marks the first time that an elected civilian administration has completed a full term and handed power to another through the ballot box in a country where there have been three military coups and four military rulers.
The nation will decide the fate of contestants for 269 seats of the National Assembly and 573 of the provincial assemblies by exercising its right of franchise today.
The results will pave the way for establishment of new governments at the Centre and in the provinces.
Some candidates whose luck is hanging in the balance are the seasoned heavyweights while a large number of newcomers are in the fray too.
The fresh trends and new elements suggest that upsets would be witnessed in the outcome of the contest in a number of constituencies across the country.
More than 86 million eligible voters will have the right to cast their votes for the national and as well provincial assemblies’ polls except the federal capital and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) where provincial assemblies do not exist.
The elections, which will be the first of its kind in the country, would be seen in the backdrop of all the past elections held in Pakistan as how they shaped its political dynamics.
Political observers are of the view that the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), nationalist forces in Balochistan, formation of 10-party alliance in Sindh and elections in the tribal areas on the basis of adult franchise are the new phenomenon of the national elections in Pakistan.
The party leaders who are contesting polls for the slot of national legislatures are Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Makhdoom Amin Fahim while interestingly at least six leaders of their own parties are not contesting polls and they are Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Altaf Hussain, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Munawar Hassan, Maulana Tahirul Qadri and Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has made elaborate arrangements for the Pakistan (ECP) has made elaborate arrangements for the conduct of the elections as 69,801 polling stations have been established throughout the country where 193,451 booths have been set up.
The agencies concerned have declared 30,895 polling stations as hyper sensitive for the process of elections.
The federal government has provided the services of more than half a million of personnel including the Army, Rangers, Police and national volunteers for the purpose. In all 4,671 candidates are contesting for the 269 seats of the National Assembly while 10,958 candidates are in the run for 573 seats of the provincial assemblies.
The analysts are of the view that elections that took place just over a month after Benazir Bhutto assassination, were predictably won by the PPP. The party secured 122 National Assembly seats with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) securing 92. Twenty-five seats were won by the MQM and 13 by the ANP.
The sympathy wave was suggesting that the PPP would sweep the polls but it could not muster simple majority at the end. The PPP then formed a coalition government at the Centre, initially by forming an alliance with the PML-N as its chief partner.
The alliance fell apart, however, other parties, such as the ANP and MQM remained allied to the PPP through the years with the PML-Q jumping to the treasury benches much later.
Moreover, Asif Ali Zardari was elected to the position of the country’s president after Musharraf’s resignation. The PPP saw two prime ministers in this term Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was ousted on contempt of court charges, and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, who was elected premier in the wake of Gilani’s dismissal.
The assemblies elected in these elections were the first in the country’s history which took power from a fully civilian administration and continued to last with their stipulated terms completing without interruption from the country’s military.
To elect new assemblies in 2013, elections were called for May 11. The main parties trying their luck in these polls are the PPP, PML-N, MQM, ANP, PTI and PML-Q. However, campaigning has turned out be a relatively tough call in the existing security environment, especially with recent attacks that have targeted candidates from the ANP, PPP and MQM.
The elections for the National Assembly in 2002 saw the PML-Q win a total of 118 seats with PPP securing 81. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal won 60 while PML-N managed to return from 19 seats. Moreover, the polls saw the MQM winning 17 seats and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf only one as Khan got elected from Mianwali.
At the time, the PML-Q came to be known as the King’s party with the MMA, an alliance of religious parties, emerging as its principal ally. A PML-Q-led government was then formed at the Centre whose de facto chief was Musharraf himself. Increasing unpopularity drove the former military ruler into imposing a state of emergency in the country in November 2007.
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