Voting will be held on the 8th for the general election in Pakistan, where political and economic turmoil continues. While former Prime Minister Khan, who leads an opposition party popular among young people, continues to be detained, attention is on whether former Prime Minister Sharif, who has served as prime minister three times, will take over the government again.
Pakistan's general election will be held on eight days, with over 5,000 candidates running for 336 seats.
On the 7th, explosions occurred near two election offices in the southwestern province of Balochistan, killing a total of 24 people and are believed to be terrorist attacks aimed at interfering with the election.
In this election, former Prime Minister Khan, who leads the opposition party ``Justice Movement,'' which is popular among young people, was repeatedly convicted of corruption and leaking confidential state information, and was unable to run because he remained in detention.
Under these circumstances, former Prime Minister Sharif, who heads the ruling Muslim League Sharif faction and has served as prime minister three times so far, is gaining support, and experts say that he has ties to the military, which has strong political influence. It has been pointed out that he is doing well and may even be able to take over the government again.
Pakistan has a population of 240 million people and is known as a de facto nuclear state.
Meanwhile, a large-scale flood occurred in the year before that, in which it is said that one-third of the country was submerged under water.Major industries such as agriculture were hit hard, and economic turmoil continued, including soaring prices and an increase in unemployment. I am.
Under these circumstances, the focus is on whether the government that will be formed following this election will be able to bring about political and economic stability.
"This is an important election for Japan and Japanese companies."
According to Kazunori Yamaguchi, director of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization Karachi Office), approximately 80 Japanese companies, including automobile and motorcycle manufacturers, are operating in Pakistan, where the general election will be held.
Director Yamaguchi said Pakistan has high potential as a market, saying, ``Although it is geographically far from Japan, there are many young people and the market is very large as China and ASEAN countries are facing declining and aging populations.'' is.
On the other hand, ``Last year, we were unable to import parts, and half of our factories were forced to shut down operations.''Currently, the economy has cooled down, and car sales have plummeted to one-fourth of their peak levels.'' He pointed out that as economic turmoil continues due to foreign currency shortages, Japanese companies are also being affected.
Director Yamaguchi said, ``We are in a very difficult situation as to how to improve the economy with inflation rising by nearly 30% and the policy interest rate raised to 22%.'' It is said that even if a system is established, it will not be easy to improve the economic situation.
However, ``If we continue to carry out reforms in line with the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we will be able to regain trust in the international community in the long run. "This is an important election for Japan and Japanese companies to see if they can do so."