Asian Angle | Whoever wins, Pakistan’s new boss will be bossed just like the old boss
The military has a divide-and-conquer political strategy that makes economic partners like China nervous, pulling the strings no matter who wins the top civilian job – for this election cycle it looks like it will be a former cricket star
Some 106 million Pakistanis are eligible to cast their votes on July 25 in what has been billed as the country’s most significant general election since the military ceded power back to civilians a decade ago. But it is a landmark poll for all the wrong reasons.
Rather than reflecting the will of the people, the result is expected to yield an ungainly coalition engineered by army generals, with the support of a clearly partisan judiciary and a thoroughly manipulated media.
In Pakistan’s currency crisis, China is the problem and the solution
Under intense pressure, dozens of candidates have switched loyalties to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former cricket star and playboy Imran Khan, the prospective prime minister favoured by the army bosses.
Many other politicians have disowned nominations from political parties ruled by the dynasties that have resisted the overbearing military for decades. Some have formed new regional political parties and pressure groups.