Abduction, terror attacks, fall define run-up to Pak polls
11 May 2013 9:13 AM IST
Pakistan goes to the polls on Saturday after an unsettling run-up that saw a series of terror attacks, including former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son being abducted. To add to the anxiety, star leader Imran Khan suffered extensive injuries after a fall.
As Pakistanis prepare to vote in a new civilian government - this is the first time ever that an elected government has completed its term - observers wondered if voters would feel the absence of former military strongman Pervez Musharraf, who returned from exile in Dubai but is now under arrest.
The election campaign has been marred by a string of attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, which has vowed even more violence on election day. It is estimated that over 100 people have died and many more injured in these terror strikes.
The main contenders for power in this high stakes battle being watched all over the world are the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). There are others too like the Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami Muslim League and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q). Barely two days before the polls, Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani was on Thursday abducted in Multan town by armed men who attacked a street corner meeting of the PPP. One person was killed and four injured in the brazen attack that rattled campaigners.
PTI chief and former cricketer Imran Khan too gave some anxious moments when he suffered grievous injuries from a fall from a forklift during a poll rally in Lahore on Tuesday.
Though Khan and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had been daggers drawn even before the campaign began, the PML-N chief announced Wednesday after the fall that he was cancelling all campaign activity for that day.
Messages of sympathy for Khan poured in from other party heads and politicians.
‘Equally heartening was Khan’s own attitude as he spoke from his hospital bed, urging the people to cast their vote 11 May,’ noted a leading Pakistan daily.
As Pakistanis prepare to vote in a new civilian government - this is the first time ever that an elected government has completed its term - observers wondered if voters would feel the absence of former military strongman Pervez Musharraf, who returned from exile in Dubai but is now under arrest.
The election campaign has been marred by a string of attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, which has vowed even more violence on election day. It is estimated that over 100 people have died and many more injured in these terror strikes.
The main contenders for power in this high stakes battle being watched all over the world are the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). There are others too like the Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami Muslim League and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q). Barely two days before the polls, Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani was on Thursday abducted in Multan town by armed men who attacked a street corner meeting of the PPP. One person was killed and four injured in the brazen attack that rattled campaigners.
PTI chief and former cricketer Imran Khan too gave some anxious moments when he suffered grievous injuries from a fall from a forklift during a poll rally in Lahore on Tuesday.
Though Khan and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had been daggers drawn even before the campaign began, the PML-N chief announced Wednesday after the fall that he was cancelling all campaign activity for that day.
Messages of sympathy for Khan poured in from other party heads and politicians.
‘Equally heartening was Khan’s own attitude as he spoke from his hospital bed, urging the people to cast their vote 11 May,’ noted a leading Pakistan daily.
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