PML-N candidate Nawaz Sharif will be Pakistan’s next prime minster. This will be the first time in the nation’s history that a civilian government will finish a full term and turn over power through a democratic election. Sharif served as prime minister for two terms in Pakistan in the 1990s, so this will be his third term. He is credited with bringing Pakistan into the global nuclear club, and he was removed from power in 1999 after a coup.
Will Pakistan Have A Coalition Government?
The PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-N) party has dominated the nation’s politics for many years, although the MQM party is leading in Karachi and most of the Sindh areas. Sharif was the favorite to become Pakistan’s next prime minister, but so far, it’s possible that Pakistan will have a coalition government because no party appears to have won enough votes for a simple majority in the National Assembly.
Sharif may have to look to Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice party for assistance forming the coalition government. Early results indicated that Khan’s party won at least 36 of the 272 seats in the National Assembly, while Sharif’s PML-N party may have taken at least 119 seats. The Pakistan People’s Party is expected to win 34 seats. Sharif is hoping that his party does emerge after the final voting totals with a simple majority.
Election Day Violence
Officials said more than 50 percent of voters turned out to cast their ballots in spite of threats from the Taliban and violence that has killed at least 19 people. In all over 100 people died in the time leading up to today’s vote. The largest attack was on Saturday when 11 people were killed in a pair of bombings on an ANP office in Karachi.
