Political Stability and U.S. Alliance Put to Test in Election Saturday Focusing on Economy, Corruption
By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
LAHORE, Pakistan
The Wall Street Journal - May 11, 2013
The election here on Saturday is a fiercely contested three-way race that looks poised to solidify the nuclear-armed nation's transition to democracy even as it could further dent fragile relations with the U.S.
The voting will follow the bloodiest election campaign in recent
Pakistani history. Taliban militants killed more than 100 people as they
sought to influence voters by launching attacks on the secular parties
that dominated the outgoing government. They have also warned people to
stay away from the polls.
The Pakistan Peoples Party of President Asif Ali Zardari is likely to
lose much of its support, with the conservative Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif leading opinion
polls. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of cricket legend Imran Khan,
who boycotted the previous election in 2008, is also likely to emerge as
a major—and possibly decisive—force in Saturday's vote, analysts and
diplomats predict.
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