After voting in the eastern city of Lahore, an upbeat Sharif said he wasn’t thinking about a coalition government but looking forward to his party winning a majority in parliament.
With his archrival Khan sidelined and in prison, Sharif seems on a sure path to the premiership, backed by his younger brother, former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The younger Sharif, who is likely to have a role in the next Cabinet, told Geo news channel on Wednesday that his brother would become prime minister if their party gets a majority of the vote.
The only other strong contender is Pakistan People’s Party. It has a power base in the south and is led by a rising star in national politics — Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He issued a statement, demanding restoration of the mobile phone service.
The Sharifs and Bhutto-Zardari are traditional rivals but have joined forces against Khan in the past, and Bhutto-Zardari served as foreign minister until last August, during Shehbaz Sharif’s term as premier.
President Arif Alvi, who has a mostly ceremonial role in Pakistan, cast his ballot in the southern port city of Karachi. He urged people to vote, saying it’s their duty as citizens.
If Khan’s supporters stay away from the polls, analysts predict the race will come down to the parties of Nawaz Sharif and Bhutto-Zardari, both eager to keep Khan’s party out of the picture. As Bhutto-Zardari is unlikely to secure the premiership on his own, he could still be part of a Sharif-led coalition government.
For Khan, convicted on charges of graft, revealing state secrets and breaking marriage laws — and sentenced to three, 10, 14 and seven years, to be served concurrently — the vote is a stark reversal of fortunes from the last election when he became premier.
Candidates from Khan’s party have been forced to run as independents after the Supreme Court and Election Commission said they can’t use the party symbol — a cricket bat on voting slips — to help illiterate voters find them on the ballots.
Separately, elections are also taking place Thursday for the nation’s four provincial assemblies.
On Tuesday, the United Nation’s top human rights body warned of a “pattern of harassment” against members of Khan’s party, which claims it has been prevented from holding rallies like Sharif’s party. Authorities deny the allegations.
Pakistanis, like people in many other impoverished nations, grapple with sustained high inflation, rising poverty levels, daily gas outages and hourslong electricity blackouts.
Since Khan’s ousting, Pakistan has relied on bailouts to resuscitate its spiraling economy, with a $3 billion package from the International Monetary Fund and wealthy allies like China and Saudi Arabia jumping in with cash and loans.