Pakistanis set to vote in ‘deeply flawed polls’

Pakistan will vote tomorrow in a general election marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging by the military and against the backdrop of an economy in dire straits.
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail and his party barred from contesting as a bloc, the field is open for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win the most seats and give a fourth term as premier to its founder, Nawaz Sharif.
Participants hit the campaign trail Tuesday for the last time ahead of the election that pollsters say has left the nation of 240 million at its most "discouraged" in years.
"The atmosphere... is of a carnival. The elections are a day after tomorrow, but we are already celebrating," Sharif told a rally of around 15,000 in Kasur, south of Lahore in his Punjab province heartland.
Candidates loyal to Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party could still prove a decisive factor -- as well as the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari -- but a generally lacklustre campaign season, as well as voter apathy, suggest a low turnout tomorrow.
"The political atmosphere ahead of Pakistan's first general election since 2018 is equally as glum as the economic one," the polling agency Gallup said.
"Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections," it added.
Tomorrow, more than 120 million registered voters are eligible to take part in an election rights activists have called deeply flawed.
The election comes against the backdrop of an economy in dire straits and a significant rise in militancy.
Officials said Tuesday that nearly half of 90,000 polling stations had been declared "sensitive" or "highly sensitive" and extra security would be deployed.
Inflation is galloping at nearly 30 percent, the rupee has been in free fall for three years and a balance of payments deficit has frozen imports, severely hampering industrial growth.
"Pakistanis are more discouraged than they have been in decades about a multitude of economic, political and security challenges that are threatening their country's stability," Gallup said its poll findings revealed.
"Last year, just one in four approved of Pakistan's leadership."
Frontrunner Sharif, jailed before the 2018 election but freed to seek medical treatment in Britain, returned to Pakistan last year with the blessing of the military-led establishment and has since seen a string of convictions overturned, allowing him to run again.
In a bid to sidestep a nationwide crackdown, Khan's PTI has redefined election campaigning in Pakistan with social media rallies and the use of AI technology.
Stripped of its talisman cricket bat logo, the party has launched a mobile phone app that tells voters what logos are associated with its candidates, who are now effectively standing as independents.
Despite party information secretary Raoof Hassan calling it a "non-election", supporters have been urged to vote.
"The most powerful and meaningful weapon we have is our vote," Khan said in a message posted on his X account at the weekend.
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