Pakistanis have begun voting for members of both national and provincial assemblies. It’s the first time in 65 years for the country that a civilian government has completed a full term in office, to hand over power in democratic elections.
The newly elected government will lead the country for the next five years. Voters will elect 272 members of the National Assembly. Another 70 seats, mostly reserved for women and members of non-Muslim minorities, are allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the contested constituencies.
To have a majority, a party would need 172. The people of Pakistan hope the polls will deliver change and ease frustrations with a feeble economy, widespread corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure. The polling will last until 5 pm local time. Dozens of people have been killed in the run-up to the vote by the al-Qaeda-linked Pakistan Taliban, which regards the poll as un-Islamic and has vowed to disrupt the process with suicide bombings.