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Pakistan heads to the polls on Thursday for an election that analysts say will be among the least credible in the country\u2019s 76-year history, one that comes at a particularly turbulent moment for the nation.<\/p>\n
For nearly half of Pakistan\u2019s existence, the military has ruled directly. Even under civilian governments, military leaders have wielded enormous power, ushering in politicians they favored<\/a> and pushing out those who stepped out of line.<\/p>\n This will be only the third democratic transition between civilian governments in Pakistan\u2019s history. And it is the first national election since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from power after a vote of no confidence<\/a> in 2022. Mr. Khan\u2019s ouster \u2014 which he accused the military of orchestrating, though the powerful generals deny it \u2014 set off a political crisis that has embroiled the nuclear-armed nation for the past two years.<\/p>\n The vote on Thursday is the culmination of an especially contentious campaign season<\/a>, in which analysts say the military has sought to gut Mr. Khan\u2019s widespread support and pave the way to victory for the party of his rival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n Over the past two years, Pakistanis have come out in droves to protest the behind-the-scenes role that they believe the military played in Mr. Khan\u2019s ouster. The generals have responded in force, arresting Mr. Khan\u2019s allies and supporters, and working to cripple his party ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n While the military has often meddled in elections to pave the way for its preferred candidates, analysts say<\/a> this crackdown has been more visible and widespread than others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That has also made this perhaps Pakistan\u2019s most muted election in decades. Streets that would normally be filled with political rallies have remained empty. For weeks, many people were convinced that the election would not even take place on the scheduled date. A common refrain among Pakistanis is that this is a \u201cselection\u201d \u2014 not an election \u2014 as many feel it is clear that the military has predetermined the winner.<\/p>\n Roughly 128 million voters will be able to cast ballots for a new Parliament, which will then choose a new prime minister after the election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There are 266 seats to fill in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, with an additional 70 seats reserved for women and minorities. If no party wins an outright majority \u2014 which is considered highly likely \u2014 then the one with the biggest share of assembly seats can form a coalition government.<\/p>\n Three main parties dominate politics in Pakistan: the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (P.M.L.N.), the Pakistan People\u2019s Party (P.P.P.) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (P.T.I.).<\/p>\n Mr. Khan, the leader of P.T.I., has been notably absent from the campaign: He was arrested in August<\/a> and has since been sentenced to multiple prison terms for a variety of offenses and barred from holding public office<\/a> for a decade. Candidates from his party say they have been detained<\/a>, forced to denounce the party and subjected to intimidation campaigns. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Most election observers expect a victory by the P.M.L.N.<\/a>, the party of Mr. Sharif. A three-time prime minister, Mr. Sharif built his political reputation on reviving economic growth. He has repeatedly fallen out with the military<\/a> after pushing for more civilian control in government, only to find himself once more in its favor in this election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The P.P.P. is led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007<\/a>. The party is expected to win some seats in the south, where it has a power base, and would most likely form part of a Sharif-led coalition government.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s next government will inherit a raft of problems. The economy is in shambles, terrorist attacks have resurged and relations with neighbors<\/a> \u2014 particularly Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban \u2014 are tense.<\/p>\n The cost of living has soared in Pakistan, where inflation last year hit a record high of nearly 40 percent. Meanwhile, gas outages and electricity blackouts are frequent occurrences for the country\u2019s 240 million people. Pakistan has had to turn to the International Monetary Fund for bailouts to keep its economy afloat and prop up its foreign exchange reserves. It also has relied on financing from wealthy allies, like China and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At the same time, extremist violence in Pakistan has surged since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan<\/a> in 2021. Much of it has been carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or T.T.P. \u2014 an ally and ideological twin of the Taliban in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That has stoked tensions<\/a> between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Pakistani officials accusing the Taliban of offering the Pakistani Taliban safe haven on Afghan soil, a claim that Taliban officials deny. Those tensions appeared to boil over last year when Pakistan ordered<\/a> all undocumented foreigners to leave the country by Nov. 1, a move that has primarily affected Afghans<\/a>.<\/p>\n A day before the poll, two separate explosions outside election offices in an insurgency-hit area of Pakistan killed at least 22 people<\/a>. The blasts were the latest in a series of attacks on election-related activities, including the targeting of candidates, throughout the campaign season.<\/p>\n In light of such security threats, the authorities have designated half of Pakistan\u2019s approximately 90,000 polling stations as \u201csensitive\u201d or \u201cmost sensitive\u201d and have deployed the military to secure them. <\/p>\n The polls will close at 5 p.m. Preliminary results are expected by late Thursday night, but it could take up to three days for all votes to be officially counted.<\/p>\n Once the count is finalized, members of Parliament will convene to form the government and choose the next prime minister. The selection of the prime minister is expected by the end of February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat\u2019s the campaign been like?<\/h2>\n
Who\u2019s running?<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s at stake?<\/h2>\n
How will the vote take place?<\/h2>\n