Pakistan will go to the polls on July 25 to elect its new prime minister. This is the 11th general elections in the country since 1970 and it marks only the second time power is transferred from one civilian government to another.
Pakistan has four provinces – Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- and the voters can cast their votes for two seats – one for the National Assembly and another for their Provincial Assembly – in each constituency.
What is the strength of the Assembly?
There are 342 seats in the National Assembly, of which 272 are directly elected, 60 are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. A party looking to independently form the government will have to secure 137 directly elected seats.
Who are the candidates?
Three main candidates – Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and Bilawal Zardari Bhutto of People's Party of Pakistan – are in the fray for the prime post, and about 105.9 million voters will seal their fate on the polling day.
There are 272 directly elected and 70 reserved National Assembly seats up for grabs across the country. A party will need to bag at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.
Shehbaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz, leads the PML-N as the former prime minister remains in jail in the Panama papers case. The party has also been dragged through the muck in several other corruption cases, and this election is extremely important for it to prove itself. The PML-N has been campaigning extensively and one of its major election planks has been the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Shehbaz has also served as the chief minister of the Punjab province.
Several opinion polls in Pakistan have suggested that the PML-N is likely to take a lead in the election, closely followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Imran Khan
Helmed by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, PTI is the main opponent of the PML-N. It is also believed that Imran's party has the support of the country's military, which plays an important role in the politics of Pakistan.
In his campaign, Imran has pledged to bring several reforms in the government and also to wipe out corruption in the country. However, the former cricketer has also invited some negative press after his ex-wife Reham Khan made explosive claims about him in her new book.
A few parts of the book also speak of Imran's adultery and drug abuse, and also accuse him of being bisexual. Speaking about the claims Imran told the Daily Mail: "Normally I don't say anything about Reham, but I will say this: I've made some mistakes in my life, but my second marriage has to be the biggest."
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
The third candidate in the fray is 29-year-old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of the People's Party of Pakistan. This is the only left-leaning party in the country, which has formed the government a few times since its inception in 1967.
Bilawal is a candidate with a political lineage as he is the son of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, another former prime minister.
Rigging allegations
The country goes to the polls on July 25, but the process has already been dogged by rigging allegations. The judiciary, military and intelligence agencies have been accused of swaying voters in favour of Imran's PTI, which is known to have a military backing.
The rigging is said to be a way of turning the odds against the Shehbaz-led PML-N, which had bagged a majority in 2013 and has governed the nation for the last five years.
When is the counting?
Preliminary results are likely to start coming in soon after the polls and things are likely to be clear by about 8 pm. The overall results are expected to come in by 2 am on July 26.
