Pakistan election results in political instability when the country needed it least

By Parveen Akhtar, Aston University

Shock results in Pakistan’s national election threaten to see the country free-fall into political crisis. Days after the election, it remains unclear which party (or parties) will form a government and who the next prime minister will be.

Independent candidates affiliated to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice/PTI), the party of former prime minister, Imran Khan, won 95 of 264 seats. This puts it in the lead, ahead of Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) in second place. However, with 75 seats, PML-N is the largest single party in the national assembly.

It’s fair to say Pakistan doesn’t have a brilliant track record when it comes to putting democracy into action. No elected prime minister has completed a full term in office. The country has been under military rule for nearly as much time as it has been under a civilian government. And the military has long directed the country’s politics from behind the scenes.

Allegations that the election was likely to be rigged were rife months before voters headed to the polls on February 8. Khan, who remains widely popular, was barred from running in the election and is currently in prison having been sentenced on three separate occasions in recent weeks. Many candidates for his party were imprisoned or otherwise harassed and hounded out of politics.

The Election Commission of Pakistan also banned PTI candidates from using the electoral symbol of a cricket bat. They had to stand as independents with individual symbols, a sure impediment in a country of large rural constituencies where high numbers of voters cannot read.

As voting got underway, the interior ministry suspended mobile calls and data services – a move it said was essential to “maintain law and order” after a string of terrorist attacks in the days leading up to the election. The internet blackout meant it was not possible for many urban voters to book taxis to go and cast their vote or coordinate plans with other family members. Violence on election day itself left 28 people dead.

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