 "Violence casts shadow over Pak election")
A string of militant attacks and gunfights that killed at least 17 people cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy.
The poll, in which some 86 million people were eligible to vote, will bring the first transition between civilian governments in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history. But in the commercial centre, Karachi, the country's biggest city, several voters complained of irregularities and intimidation and the election commission said the process was flawed. “We have been unable to carry out free and fair elections in Karachi,” it said in a statement. The impact on the national elections was not immediately clear.
Polls were meant to close at 1700 local time (1200 GMT) but a one-hour extension was granted because many people still had not voted. Despite the searing heat, many went to the polls excited about the prospect of change in a country that is plagued with Taliban militancy, a near-failed economy, endemic corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure.
However, opinion polls have suggested that disenchantment with the two main parties, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), could mean that no one group emerges with a parliamentary majority, making the next government unstable and too weak to push through much-needed reform.
A late surge of support for the party of former cricket star Imran Khan has made a split mandate all the more likely. Khan, 60, is in hospital after injuring himself in a fall at a party rally, which may also win him sympathy votes.
A bomb attack on the office of the Awami National Party (ANP) in Karachi killed 11 people and wounded about 40. At least two were wounded in three blasts that followed, and media reported gunfire in the city. Four died in a gunbattle in Baluchistan. Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire near a polling station in the restive province as well, killing two people, police said.
Several were injured in an explosion that destroyed an ANP office in the insurgency-infected northwest, and there were further casualties in a blast in the city of Peshawar.
Pakistan's Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, have killed more than 120 people in election-related violence since April. The group, which is fighting to topple the US-backed government, regards the elections as un-Islamic.
The Taliban have focused their anger on secular-leaning parties like the ruling coalition led by the PPP and the ANP. Many candidates, fearful of being assassinated, avoided open campaigning before the election.
A major religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said it was pulling its candidates out of Karachi because of allegations of vote-rigging by its local rival.
Voters will elect 272 members of the National Assembly and to win a simple majority, a party would have to take 137 seats. However, the election is complicated by the fact that a further 70 seats, most reserved for women and members of non- Muslim minorities, are allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the contested constituencies. To have a majority of the total of 342, a party would need 172.
NYT reporter asked to leave
The government of Pakistan ordered the New York Times’ bureau chief in Islamabad to leave the country on the eve of national elections, the newspaper said on Friday. A two-sentence letter was delivered by police officers to the home of the bureau chief, Declan Walsh, at 12:30 am local time on Thursday, it said.
POLL REPORT
The poll, in which some 86 million people were eligible to vote, will bring the first transition between civilian governments in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history. But in the commercial centre, Karachi, the country's biggest city, several voters complained of irregularities and intimidation and the election commission said the process was flawed. “We have been unable to carry out free and fair elections in Karachi,” it said in a statement. The impact on the national elections was not immediately clear.
Polls were meant to close at 1700 local time (1200 GMT) but a one-hour extension was granted because many people still had not voted. Despite the searing heat, many went to the polls excited about the prospect of change in a country that is plagued with Taliban militancy, a near-failed economy, endemic corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure.
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“The team that we elect today will determine whether the rot will be stemmed or whether we will slide further into the abyss,” prominent lawyer Babar Sattar wrote in The News daily.
However, opinion polls have suggested that disenchantment with the two main parties, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), could mean that no one group emerges with a parliamentary majority, making the next government unstable and too weak to push through much-needed reform.
A late surge of support for the party of former cricket star Imran Khan has made a split mandate all the more likely. Khan, 60, is in hospital after injuring himself in a fall at a party rally, which may also win him sympathy votes.
A bomb attack on the office of the Awami National Party (ANP) in Karachi killed 11 people and wounded about 40. At least two were wounded in three blasts that followed, and media reported gunfire in the city. Four died in a gunbattle in Baluchistan. Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire near a polling station in the restive province as well, killing two people, police said.
Several were injured in an explosion that destroyed an ANP office in the insurgency-infected northwest, and there were further casualties in a blast in the city of Peshawar.
Pakistan's Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, have killed more than 120 people in election-related violence since April. The group, which is fighting to topple the US-backed government, regards the elections as un-Islamic.
The Taliban have focused their anger on secular-leaning parties like the ruling coalition led by the PPP and the ANP. Many candidates, fearful of being assassinated, avoided open campaigning before the election.
A major religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, said it was pulling its candidates out of Karachi because of allegations of vote-rigging by its local rival.
Voters will elect 272 members of the National Assembly and to win a simple majority, a party would have to take 137 seats. However, the election is complicated by the fact that a further 70 seats, most reserved for women and members of non- Muslim minorities, are allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the contested constituencies. To have a majority of the total of 342, a party would need 172.
NYT reporter asked to leave
The government of Pakistan ordered the New York Times’ bureau chief in Islamabad to leave the country on the eve of national elections, the newspaper said on Friday. A two-sentence letter was delivered by police officers to the home of the bureau chief, Declan Walsh, at 12:30 am local time on Thursday, it said.
POLL REPORT
- 17 killed, many wounded in attacks and gunfights
- Election to bring first transition between civilian governments
- Former premier Nawaz Sharif's party looks set to win most votes
- Late surge of support for Imran Khan