Feb 13, 2012
Update: Pakistan’s Parliamentary Elections
Flickr photo by Steve Evans under a Creative Commons License. In an election largely viewed as a referendum on President Musharraf, the opposition parties swept the parliamentary elections in Pakistan. Generally there was a low voter turnout, due either to fear from recent suicide attacks, apathy or protest according to media accounts. Many Pakistanis are still concerned/disheartened over apparent rigging by Musharraf, and despite his party's loss it remains an important issue. Official results in many provinces are expected to be released as early as tonight, but the PPP reportedly announced an offer of a coalition government to the PML-N. Musharraf claims he will concede power to elected parties, a move applauded by the U.S.
PPP (Bhutto's party) : 87 PML-N (Nawaz Sharif): 66 PML-Q: (pro-Musharraf) 38 MQM (Sindh-based): 19 ANP (Secular Pashtuns): 10 Others: 38 Source: Geo TV
Click here for Dawn's map of of the results to date, very interesting!!! Tomorrow from 9AM - 10:30AM we are hosting our Pakistan Post-Election event featuring Pakistani experts giving live analysis on the elections from Pakistan. After the event we will provide the audio and a shorter podcast version for all of those unable to attend. If you would like to attend please RSVP to PCRProject@csis.org. There will be some great insight on the election results and what they mean for the future of Pakistan. Stay Tuned! Click here for a great slideshow by the NYTimes on "Elections in Pakistan."
- scotta's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
Geo TV's website is
Geo TV's website is reporting that the gov't is thinking of the possibility of releasing the former Supreme Court Justice. I think that would be another helpful step in legitimizing the government.
But Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif also have some things that happened during their time in government that people could object to. So maybe they would be less divisive if they work with the Musharraf's party in parliament instead of pushing them aside: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080219/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_election
It would be interesting to see what your panel says tomorrow.
I saw that a lot of people
I saw that a lot of people were happy and excited in Pakistan and that this is good news after a long time.
My personal take is that Musharraf did a good thing by allowing an election where his party would lose the parliament - some big figures lost their seats. There's also a lot of talk on GeoTV about what people could be doing to be more civic minded. I think that would also be a much needed step.
Sounds like a really
Sounds like a really positive outcome, although until the official results actually come out it may well be too soon to say. I'm looking forward to the event tomorrow.