Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Millions in Pakistan will head to the polls on Thursday for a general election in which old dynasties are vying for power while the country’s widely popular former leader languishes behind bars unable to stand and militants ramp up deadly attacks.
Mobile internet has been suspended in various districts of the province, leading to concerns of a nationwide blackout.
A street is festooned with posters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on February 4, 2024.
Sharif remains widely popular in Pakistan’s Punjab province – the country’s most populous and a key electoral battleground – where his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party has been lauded for advancing mega infrastructural projects.
Standing against him is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 35-year-old son of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto, seeking to reestablish his Pakistan People’s Party as a major political force.
Persons:
languishes, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Nawaz Sharif, ARIF, Volker Türk, ”, Liz Throssell, Imran Khan’s, Khan, Sharif, Nawaz, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto
Organizations:
Pakistan CNN —, Islamic State, Mobile, Foreign, ARIF ALI, AFP, Getty, United Nations, Human Rights, “, Cricket, PTI, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan People’s Party
Locations:
Islamabad, Pakistan, country’s, Balochistan, Islamic State Pakistan Province, Iran, Afghanistan, Lahore, Imran Khan’s Pakistan, Punjab