The 11th general elections of Pakistan will take place on 11 May. Eligible voters will elect members to the National Assembly as well as the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The key political parties contesting the election are the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari; Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, led by cricketer –turned-politician Imran Khan; and Muttahida Qaumi Movement led by Altaf Hussain. The other parties contesting the election include Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Awami National party (ANP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, and former President and Army Chief, Pervez Musharraf’s new All Pakistan Muslim League. The military – Pakistan’s most powerful institution – has pledged to stay out of the election process.
172 of 271 directly elected seats will be required for a governing majority in the National Assembly.
The civilian government in Pakistan has been repeatedly ousted by the military establishment, since the creation of the nation in 1947. This election is significant given that it will mark the first democratic transition between two elected governments. Currently, a caretaker government headed by interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, a former judge of the Balochistan High Court, is in place.
Regardless of the outcome, the new leadership will face a number of post-election challenges – such as unemployment, terrorism, rising crime-rate, low productivity, and the lack of foreign investment in the country.
On May 6, Gateway House initiated a debate, themed ‘The civil-military equation in Pakistan has begun to tilt in favour of civilians.‘ Daniel Markey of the Council on Foreign Relations and Ambassador Neelam Deo of Gateway House argue for and against the motion respectively. Click here to read the debate and to vote.