Sharif heading for office in triumphant political comeback
Source: Agencies |
May 13, 2013, Monday
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TOPPLED in a 1999 military coup, jailed and exiled, Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made a triumphant election comeback and looks set to form a stable government capable of implementing reforms needed to rescue the fragile economy.
Sharif, 63, may not win enough seats to rule on his own but has built up enough momentum to avoid having to form a coalition with his main rivals, former cricketer Imran Khan's Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The steel magnate held off a challenge from Khan, who had hoped to break decades of dominance by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the PPP, led by the Bhutto family.
The two parties have formed governments whenever the military has allowed civilian rule.
Khan put up a strong fight and he is likely to remain a force in politics, possibly becoming the main opposition figure. The PPP, which led the government for the past five years, has done badly and could come third.
Television channels said of the results declared by last night, Sharif's PML-N had captured 94 of the 272 contested National Assembly seats.
Based on trends, it was likely to get around 130, and should easily be able to make up the required majority of 137 with support from independents and small parties.
The PTI has secured 21 seats while the PPP won 19.
Saturday's elections were marred by a campaign by Islamic fundamentalists to block the voting. Despite pre-poll violence and attacks that killed at least 40 people, voter turnout was a robust 60 percent.
Once it establishes a majority, Sharif's party would be allocated a majority of 70 other parliamentary seats that are reserved for women and non-Muslim minorities.
Sharif has waited patiently to rule Pakistan again. As the main opposition leader, he avoided undermining the PPP when it was in trouble, and analysts describe him as more cautious than when he was prime minister twice in the 1990s.
"Seemingly a genuinely changed man from his troubling stints as prime minister in the 90s, Sharif now appears to have both a genuine mandate as well as a grasp of the direction Pakistan needs to be steered in," said political analyst Cyril Almeida.
In one sense, the polls were a democratic landmark, marking the first time one elected government was to replace another in a country vulnerable to military takeovers.
But Saturday's vote failed to realize the hopes of many that the hold of patronage-based parties would end after years of misrule and corruption.
Sharif has said the army, which has ruled the country for more than half of its 66-year history, should stay out of politics.
But he will have to work with Pakistan's generals, who set foreign and security policy and will manage the country's thorny relationship with the United States as NATO troops withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan in 2014.
In a video message, Khan said the election would boost Pakistan's young democracy, but added his party was collecting evidence of vote-rigging.
"We are now moving towards democracy. I congratulate the nation on the numbers in which they turned out to vote. The youth was with me. That is my victory," he said.
Sharif, 63, may not win enough seats to rule on his own but has built up enough momentum to avoid having to form a coalition with his main rivals, former cricketer Imran Khan's Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The steel magnate held off a challenge from Khan, who had hoped to break decades of dominance by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the PPP, led by the Bhutto family.
The two parties have formed governments whenever the military has allowed civilian rule.
Khan put up a strong fight and he is likely to remain a force in politics, possibly becoming the main opposition figure. The PPP, which led the government for the past five years, has done badly and could come third.
Television channels said of the results declared by last night, Sharif's PML-N had captured 94 of the 272 contested National Assembly seats.
Based on trends, it was likely to get around 130, and should easily be able to make up the required majority of 137 with support from independents and small parties.
The PTI has secured 21 seats while the PPP won 19.
Saturday's elections were marred by a campaign by Islamic fundamentalists to block the voting. Despite pre-poll violence and attacks that killed at least 40 people, voter turnout was a robust 60 percent.
Once it establishes a majority, Sharif's party would be allocated a majority of 70 other parliamentary seats that are reserved for women and non-Muslim minorities.
Sharif has waited patiently to rule Pakistan again. As the main opposition leader, he avoided undermining the PPP when it was in trouble, and analysts describe him as more cautious than when he was prime minister twice in the 1990s.
"Seemingly a genuinely changed man from his troubling stints as prime minister in the 90s, Sharif now appears to have both a genuine mandate as well as a grasp of the direction Pakistan needs to be steered in," said political analyst Cyril Almeida.
In one sense, the polls were a democratic landmark, marking the first time one elected government was to replace another in a country vulnerable to military takeovers.
But Saturday's vote failed to realize the hopes of many that the hold of patronage-based parties would end after years of misrule and corruption.
Sharif has said the army, which has ruled the country for more than half of its 66-year history, should stay out of politics.
But he will have to work with Pakistan's generals, who set foreign and security policy and will manage the country's thorny relationship with the United States as NATO troops withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan in 2014.
In a video message, Khan said the election would boost Pakistan's young democracy, but added his party was collecting evidence of vote-rigging.
"We are now moving towards democracy. I congratulate the nation on the numbers in which they turned out to vote. The youth was with me. That is my victory," he said.
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