More than 128 million voters are entitled to cast their votes in these elections (French)
Tens of millions of voters in Pakistan - Thursday morning - began casting their votes to choose the 336 representatives of the Federal Parliament, in addition to members of the regional parliaments.
These elections are taking place against the backdrop of security and political tensions, and are expected to lead to the return of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to assume the presidency of the government for a fourth term.
More than 128 million voters are entitled to participate in the 12th general parliamentary elections, and the next government will be formed by the party that receives the support of two-thirds of the representatives.
About 90,000 polling stations opened their doors to voters, while the Ministry of Interior announced the “temporary suspension of mobile phone services” throughout the country throughout the election day, citing security reasons.
The country is on high alert amid the deployment of the army to polling stations, and tens of thousands of troops and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across Pakistan.
Pakistan also announced that it will close its borders with Iran and Afghanistan today for security reasons.
Pakistan is on high alert amid the deployment of the army to polling stations (French)
Accusations of forgery
Voting is taking place in Pakistan, amid accusations of fraud leveled by the opposition to the government following a crackdown targeting the Tehreek-e-Insaf party, led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The elections are also taking place amid human rights organizations questioning their credibility against the backdrop of the campaign against Imran Khan’s party.
With Imran Khan imprisoned, his party banned from holding election rallies, the media restricted in its coverage of the opposition, and the Election Commission rejecting the papers of dozens of party candidates nationwide, the way is open for Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League to win the largest number of seats in the federal parliament.
The unofficial preliminary results are expected to appear a few hours after voting closes at 5 p.m. local time, and the picture is likely to become clearer early tomorrow.
The past few days have witnessed the killing of more than 40 people and the injury of dozens of others in several election-related incidents and bombings, especially in Balochistan and Khyber provinces.
With a population of 240 million, Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of population.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies