2018 Pakistan General Election Wednesday July 25,2018 - Who will be Pakistan's next PM?

Imran Khan, 65 | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

Imran Khan needs no introduction to most Indians -- 26 years ago, he led Pakistan cricket team to World Cup glory in Melbourne, having once told his men to fight "like cornered tigers".

 Now the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Khan is waging the fight of his life after two decades of being dismissed at the polls.

And he hopes to become prime minister, banking on gains in Punjab province, home to a whopping 141 elected seats (out a total of 272).

To gain a majority, a party needs 137 seats in the national assembly.

And in Punjab, the stronghold of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party, Khan has successfully courted entrenched local power brokers who often hold sway over about a quarter of the province's seats.



Shehbaz Sharif, 66 | Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz

Nawaz Sharif's party is now led by his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, who was until recently the chief minister of Punjab province. Like Khan, he hopes to win a seat in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province and Pakistan's largest city.

The PML-N could get sympathy votes after the Sharifs' arrest. Nawaz left his cancer-striken wife in a London hospital to return to his country on July 13, and was taken into custody within minutes of landing. Both he and Maryam deny wrongdoing.

On the other hand, besides Imran Khan's courting of power brokers in Punjab, two new hard-right Islamist parties may cut into the PML-N's conservative voter base.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 29 | Pakistan People's Party

There are two former prime ministers and a former president in Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's family: His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was hanged after being deposed in a military coup; his mother was Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated on the campaign trail in 2007. And his father, Asif Ali Zardari, was the eleventh president of Pakistan.

Many call this dynasty the Pakistani equivalent of the Kennedys.

Bilawal, an Oxford-graduate like Imran Khan, is campaigning to become prime minister, but many political analysts believe the PPP may at best become a power broker if no party wins a clear majority.

One of the PPP's challenges is overcoming Asif Ali Zardari's image. Some analysts and party insiders say corruption allegations against the former president could cost the party at the polls, where they will contrast with Imran Khan's relentless anti-graft message.

All you need to know about the Pakistan General Elections:

• The general elections will be held on July 25.
• Polling will start at 8 am PST and will end at 6 pm.
• The results of the polls are expected to start coming out from 9 pm while a broader view of the overall results is expected to be out after midnight.

How does Pakistan vote?

• According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) there are at least 105 million registered voters in Pakistan.
• Each voter will be able to vote for two seats (National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly) from their particular constituency through ballots.
• Voting will be done from all four provinces -- Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Sindh.

How many seats does a party need to come to power?

• There are 272 direct seats and 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly (NA).
• A single party majority needs to have atleast 137 seats to be able to form the government.

Who are the main contenders for power?

• Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) headed by Shahbaz Sharif
• Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) headed by Imran Khan
• Pakistan People Party (PPP) headed by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
• Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a religious party alliance