Pakistanis Vote In Historic Parliamentary Elections
Pakistanis are voting in landmark parliamentary elections that mark the country's first democratic transition of power between civilian governments. The country has been ruled by the military for more than half of its history. (Photographs by RFE/RL Radio Mashaal correspondents)
17:3611.5.2013
NA 54: police arrive 25 mins before polling ends, forcefully empty out polling station; fewer number of ballot papers than registered voters
— Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) May 11, 2013
17:2611.5.2013
QUICK TAKE:
Our correspondent Abubakar Siddique (@Sid_Abu) on the vote in Pakistan's tribal regions.
A Mixed Picture In The Tribal Areas
Reports from across Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) indicate that voting in the insurgency-plagued region along the Afghan border has gone forward without major disruptions.
People have voted in 11 of 12 national assembly constituencies across FATA. The government did postpone elections in one constituency in Kurram because of possible attacks on the polling station.
Voting in the Bajaur tribal district went smoothly with women voting in major towns and population centers. In Mohmand, women were able to cast a ballot for the first time.
But in some parts of North Waziristan, a sanctuary for Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders, women were warned through a mosque loudspeaker not to leave their houses to head to polling places.
There were also instances of confusion and outright fighting in some polling stations for FATA's displaced population in neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Such problems led to the postponing of elections for some polling stations in a constituency in the area.
Overall, though, it seems FATA's beleaguered residents have embraced the electoral process with optimism.
- A.S.
17:1911.5.2013
The ECP has given 3 more hours for polling at 7 #Karachi constituencies — NA-248 to NA-254.| Live Update dawn.com/2013/05/11/330…
RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal spoke to political analyst Ayesha Seddiqa (@iamthedrifter):
"My fear is that, you know like in the 1970's when Zulifikar Ali Bhutto, [NOTE: Pakistan's former prime minister and president] he got people excited, brought them out, they voted for him. I mean and offered change. Change didn't happen then because nobody had taught people a sense of responsibility. I mean people should be made aware of not just their rights but also their duties and responsibilities and bringing change. My fear is that people's attitudes are still the same. So we may be expecting change without contributing anything to change."
"I think the next government will not be a very strong coalition government. It will be a fairly weak government. It will be a hung parliament which means that the military will have its say in terms of negotiating 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan and the war on terror."
16:3011.5.2013
We will have a short item from Abubakar Siddique (follow @Sid_Abu) on this topic shortly.
PPP & JI candidates while sitting in front of polling station #70 in lower Dir, stop women from voting. via Shad Begum
