Pakistan’s Lahore: The entire process seemed inevitable as I went outside on a chilly Thursday morning to cover Pakistan’s 12th general election.
The majority of reputable observers had already predicted that conditions would be met for Nawaz Sharif, the three-time prime minister, to return to power.
Even though it was obvious that Pakistan’s military establishment, which had previously assisted Imran Khan, Sharif’s political adversary, in becoming powerful at Sharif’s expense, had prepared the way. Even yet, if that very establishment had tortured Sharif twice—once when Pervez Musharraf overthrew him as prime minister in a coup in 1999, and again when he was pushed from office in 2017 and later found guilty of corruption.
It seemed as though the roles had reversed, with the military and Khan’s relationship deteriorating and the accusations against Sharif being withdrawn.
One thing has become evident to me more than twenty-four hours after I began going to polling places and speaking with voters: the result of this election may be anything
but evident. This election has been closer than observers had projected on polling day, regardless of the final outcome.
The preliminary findings support that. It has been refused for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to use the cricket bat as its electoral emblem. Days before the election, the gregarious Khan, a philanthropist and former cricket captain, was found guilty on several charges. He was incarcerated in August of last year.
Even yet, as of 11:30 a.m. local time (06:30 a.m. GMT) on Friday, candidates from Khan’s party were compelled to compete as independents, and the PTI and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) were tied for first place. Nine seats were won by Khan’s PTI candidates, ten by the PMLN, and three by the Pakistan People’s Party, the third-largest competitor.
Not surprised at all by what I saw and heard on Thursday.
With my phone, it all began. Even with all of the government’s prior warnings and my intuition, I was nevertheless a little surprised to learn that mobile internet connectivity had been turned off. Although the official explanation was security-related, it was obvious that the ruling class was worried that the screenplay they had prepared would require technological assistance.
My first destination was the posh Model Town neighborhood in Lahore, where Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif and a former prime minister, was scheduled to cast his ballot.
