CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

Views /Editorial

Democratic transition of power

Published: 25 Jul 2018 - 11:52 am | Last Updated: 18 Jul 2025 - 07:57 pm

Pakistan is set to elect governments at the center and four provinces in general elections today in another smooth transition of power from one democratically-elected government to another.

More than 105 million eligible voters will cast their ballots for two seats in each constituency: one for the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) and one for their Provincial Assembly. There are 85,307 polling stations across Pakistan and more than 12,000 candidates are running for 272 seats in the National Assembly and 577 seats in four provincial assemblies.

The main contest to form the next government at center lies between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Shahbaz Sharif, former Punjab Chief Minister, is leading Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after disqualification of his elder brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif  by the supreme court of Pakistan in July last year on corruption charges.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan heads the center-right PTI and has aggressively run his party’s campaign across the country without any hindrance and this time can give a tough time to beleaguered PML-N. All poll surveys have also indicated a neck and neck contest between PTI and PML-N.

29-year-old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and chairman of PPP. His party still has a dominant political control and popularity in Sindh and according to different poll surveys can form provincial government third time consecutively in the province. PPP formed government in Sindh province in 2008 and 2013 elections.

Owing to mass defections from PML-N to Khan’s PTI in previous months and conviction of PML-N former head Nawaz Sharif by the accountability court recently, his party has expressed reservations on the transparency of elections and allege vehemently that they were not provided with level playing field. But the Election Commission of Pakistan rejects such claims terming the election arrangements free, fair and transparent.

Most of the political analysts believe that 2018 general elections in Pakistan are likely to elect a hung parliament where no party will be able to secure a simple majority to form the government therefore the three major political parties will have to forge a post election alliance to meet the required parliamentary strength.

If today’s elections in Pakistan are held in free, transparent and non-violent manner, a newly elected government with the help of a fresh mandate can better address a number of issues domestically and abroad from energy crisis to setting foreign policy on the right track and this is what Pakistan and its people want from these elections; political stability, good governance and economic uplift.