ISLAMABAD: Millions of Pakistanis began voting Thursday in an election marred by allegations of poll rigging, with the country's most popular politician in jail and a military-favoured candidate tipped to win.
Authorities said they were suspending mobile telephone services across the country during voting "to maintain law and order" following a bloody election campaign -- including two blasts on Wednesday that killed 28 people.
Pollsters have predicted a low turnout from the country's 128 million eligible voters following a lacklustre election campaign overshadowed by the jailing of former prime minister Imran Khan, and the hobbling of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by the military-led establishment.
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to win the most seats in Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif has won the blessing of the generals. Sharif will be eying the premiership for a record fourth time in Thursday's election.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates are contesting the polls independently after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the election commission to deprive his party of its iconic election symbol cricket 'bat'.
The contest also involves the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who has been declared as the party's prime minister face.
Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) and were due to close at 6:00 pm.
"I prayed this morning, then I picked up my brother and we came to cast our vote," said Zaeem Khan, 40, outside a polling station at the Government College of Technology in Lahore.
Officials have deployed more than 650,000 army, paramilitary and police personnel to provide security for an election already marred by violence.
Though the incidents of violence in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi have not been at the scale witnessed in Balochistan province in the run-up to the elections, yet there is fear of violence breaking out and even terror attacks in some areas where polling stations have been deemed as "sensitive." 44,000 polling stations were normal while 29,985 were declared as sensitive, and 16,766 as highly sensitive.
"It has been decided to temporarily suspend the mobile service across the country," a ministry spokesman said in a statement.
A countrywide public holiday too has been declared to enable voters cast their vote with any hindrance.
The spokesman said "precious lives have been lost" in recent militant attacks in Pakistan and "security measures are essential to maintain law and order situation and to deal with potential threats".
On Wednesday, at least 28 people were killed and more than 30 wounded by two bomb blasts outside the offices of candidates in southwestern Pakistan, in attacks claimed hours later by the Islamic State group.
The foreign ministry said the land borders with neighbours Iran and Afghanistan would be closed to all traffic Thursday as a security measure.
The election figures are staggering in the nuclear-armed nation of 240 million people -- the world's fifth-most populous.
Nearly 18,000 candidates are standing for seats in the national and four provincial assemblies, with 266 seats directly contested in the former -- an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities -- and 749 places in the regional parliaments.
Thursday's election has a similar air to the 2018 poll, but with the tables turned.
Then, it was Sharif who was disqualified from running because of a string of convictions for graft, while Khan swept to power with the backing of the military, as well as genuine support.
"The history of Pakistan elections is chequered with allegations of rigging but also favouritism for a political party -- 2018 saw very similar circumstances," said Bilal Gilani, executive director of polling group Gallup Pakistan.
"It's a managed democracy that the military runs."
Unlike last poll, however, the opposition has had its election symbol banned -- removing PTI from the ballot box altogether and forcing PTI-selected candidates to run as independents.
Last week Khan, a former international cricketer who led Pakistan to victory in the World Cup in 1992, has been sentenced to lengthy jail terms for treason, graft, and an illegal marriage.
Analysts say the character assassination shows how worried the military is that PTI-selected candidates could still prove a decisive factor in Thursday's vote.
If Sharif does not win a ruling majority, he will most likely still take power via a coalition with one or more junior partners -- including the Pakistan Peoples Party, another family-run dynasty.
Some political analysts, television commentators and opinion polls have indicated that the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) one of the oldest politico-religious parties in Pakistan might end up grabbing more seats then they have ever done before.
"The trend appears to be in favor of JI and the PTI rather than the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM), the two other main parties contesting in Karachi," political analyst Hamza Habib, also a university lecturer, told PTI News.
Pollsters have said the election has left the population at its most "discouraged" in years.
Whoever wins takes over a deeply divided country, observers say, with the economy in tatters and a deteriorating security situation.
Last year, the country narrowly averted a default when the International Monetary Fund provided a $3 billion short-term loan.
Inflation is galloping at nearly 30 per cent, the rupee has been in free fall for three years and a balance of payments deficit has frozen imports, severely hampering industrial growth.
Pakistan's more than two decades old fight against terrorism is also unraveling as the rebels have resurged since 2021 after the Afghan Taliban came to power. The new government will find it tougher to deal with the militancy by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch nationalists.
Factbox
Punjab has the most number of 73, 207,896 registered voters followed by Sindh with 26,994,769, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 21,928,119, Balochistan with 5,371,947 and Federal Capital Islamabad 1,083,029
According to ECP, a total of 5,121 candidates are in the race for the National Assembly (NA) seats
These include 4807 male, 312 female and two transgenders
For the four provincial assemblies, 12,695 candidates are in the field including 12,123 male, 570 women and two transgenders
In total 266 NA seats were up for grabs out of 336, but polling was postponed on at least one seat after a candidate was killed in a gun attack in Bajaur.
Sixty seats are reserved for women and another 10 for minorities, and are allotted to the winning parties on the basis of proportional representation
Another 593 seats of the four provincial assemblies, out of total 749, were open for contest but the ECP delayed polls on at least three seats, two in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one in Punjab, after two candidates died and one was killed.
A total of 132 seats in the four provinces are reserved for women in four provinces and another 24 for minorities.
The reserved seats will be allotted to the winning political parties on the basis of general seats they win in the elections.
Both women and non-Muslim minorities can also contest on all general seats in addition to the reserved seats set aside for them in the national and provincial assemblies.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
