Sharif said on Saturday his Pakistan Muslim League Party-Nawaz (PMLN) was the clear winner in general elections and that he hoped for a majority to avoid a coalition.

He inherits a country with a dizzying array of troubles, from chronic power cuts to a Taliban insurgency.

“The challenges are huge,” the portly Sharif told Reuters in his bullet-proof car during the last days of campaigning. “We have to bail out the economy.”

Sharif, who vows to bring in free market enterprise and ease economic controls, says speedy growth is the only answer for nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.

The powerful military still calls the shots in Pakistan but the poll marked the first time that an elected government will replace another one. Nevertheless, Sharif will have to work with the generals, who control foreign policy and security.

The new civilian government will also have to play its part in Pakistan’s difficult relationship with the United States.

Washington has a long-standing alliance with Pakistan, but is troubled by elements in the country supporting Islamic militants fighting U.S. troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan in 2011.

In addition, the economy is stuttering. Power cuts that can last all day have infuriated Pakistanis and crippled key industries. Corruption and poverty are rampant, and infrastructure is crumbling.

Sharif, who made his fortune in steel, seems to have matured as a politician since he was toppled by former army chief and president Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999.

As the main opposition leader, he avoided antagonising Pakistan’s powerful army, or bringing down the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government when it was in trouble.

Instead, he waited patiently for an opportunity to rule and now that his moment has come, he says he is in a hurry to fix Pakistan.

The honeymoon will be short.

NEED FOR REFORM

Pakistan needs billions of dollars from donors to avert a balance of payments crisis but the cash may not flow to the South Asian nation unless politically sensitive economic reforms are implemented.

So far, one politician after another has failed to muster the courage to bring change. Sharif’s background suggests he may have the stomach for it, based on his attempts in the past to reverse socialist policies and open up the economy.

Sharif, who was born into a family of wealthy industrialists in 1949, served as prime minister twice in the 1990s, when he tried to promote free market policies.

His family is from Lahore, the capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s most prosperous and populous province.

Now he says he is willing to again risk a backlash, and cut government expenditure by 30 percent in order to secure international backing for the economy.

“You see privatisation, free market economy, deregulation – have been hallmarks of our party in government,” he said. “We are going to pick up the threads from where we left off.”

Despite his reform credentials, Sharif may raise concerns in the West because of his conservative Islamic values: in 1991 he tried to make sharia the country’s supreme law.

More recently he has been accused of failing to act against militant groups that have a breeding ground in Punjab. He is one of the few major politicians not on the hit-list of Taliban insurgents.

Sharif’s two terms as prime minister in the 1990s were marred by allegations of graft and Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests on his watch in 1998.

THE MILITARY CONNECTION

Sharif was a protege of military dictator General Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s.

But he became a victim of the powerful military when he was overthrown by Musharraf. He was then convicted of corruption and given a life sentence for hijacking, because he refused to allow an airliner carrying Musharraf to land in Pakistan.

Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia, but never lost hope of returning to politics one day.

“In private conversations, Nawaz still gets very emotional when he remembers that period,” said a senior journalist who has reported on Sharif for decades. “He has not forgotten being handcuffed and walking through the airport. His face still gets red in anger when he recalls those days.”

No surprise, then, that he now talks tough against the army meddling in civilian affairs – a risky stance in a country ruled by generals for more than half of its 66-year history, either through coups or from behind the scenes.

Sharif’s attempt to fire Musharraf as army chief ultimately cost him his job in 1999. He will have to avoid further errors in judgment to survive Pakistan’s stormy politics, especially when it comes to the top army officers.

Musharraf attempted a political comeback of his own in March when he returned after nearly four years of self-imposed exile hoping to contest the election.

Instead, he has been barred from public office for life and is under house arrest at his luxury farmhouse as cases against him grind through the courts.

With his nemesis humiliated and out of the picture, politics has come full circle for Sharif. He has patiently plotted his own return to the top from his lavish, 700-acre estate near Lahore where peacocks strut on the lawns.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

The polls were a landmark, marking the first time one elected government will replace another. But the vote failed to realise the hopes of many that dynastic politics would end after years of misrule and corruption.

The wealthy steel magnate from the pivotal Punjab province held off a challenge from former cricket star Imran Khan who had hoped to break decades of dominance by Sharif and the Pakistan People’s Party led by the Bhutto family.

Sharif, 63, declared victory in a jubilant speech to supporters as results from Saturday’s election showed a overwhelming lead for his party.

“Results are still coming in, but this much is confirmed: we’re the single largest party so far,” he declared to hoots of joy from the crowd in Punjab’s capital, Lahore.

“Please pray that by morning we’re in a position that we don’t need the crutch of coalition partners.”

Despite pre-election violence and attacks on Saturday that killed at least 17 people, millions turned out to cast their ballot in a milestone election for a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half of its turbulent history.

With the count continuing into the night, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was leading in 119 of the 272 National Assembly seats that were contested.

His party may not have enough seats to rule on its own and may be forced into a coalition, which could make it difficult to push reforms desperately needed to revive a near-failed economy.

Sharif, who advocates free-market economics, is likely to pursue privatisation and deregulation to revive flagging growth.

He will have to ease widespread discontent over endemic corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure in the nuclear-armed country, a strategic U.S. ally. One of the first likely tasks will be to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a multi-billion-dollar bailout.

Cricketing hero Khan in the end did not have the momentum needed to trip up Sharif despite his popularity among urban youths, many of whom were voting for the first time in an election that saw a robust turnout of 60 percent.

They had rallied behind Khan’s calls for an end to graft and a halt to U.S. drone strikes against suspected militants on Pakistani soil.

Still, Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) put up a strong fight against the PPP, with the count showing the two parties neck-and-neck with about 34 seats each. The PPP led the government for the past five years with 124 lawmakers in parliament.

“Nawaz’s victory says two things about Pakistan: one, the people of Pakistan prefer the comfort of status quo over the uncertainty of revolutions; and two, all roads to the centre go through Punjab, and in Punjab, people are right-leaning and conservative,” said senior journalist Nusrat Javeed.

“Still, for a party that only really arrived on the political scene in a serious way two years ago, PTI’s performance was remarkable, to say the least.”

BLOODY ELECTION DAY

A string of bomb blasts marred election day, with one attack on a party office in the southern city of Karachi killing 11 people and wounding about 40.

Pakistan’s Taliban, which is close to al Qaeda, has killed more than 125 people in election-related violence since April. The group, which is fighting to topple the U.S.-backed government, regards the poll as un-Islamic.

Despite Pakistan’s history of coups, the army stayed out of politics during the five years of the last government and threw its support behind Saturday’s election.

It still sets foreign and security policy and will steer the thorny relationship with Washington as NATO troops withdraw from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2014.

However, some fear the military could step back in if there were a repeat of the incompetence and corruption that frustrated many Pakistanis during the last government.

Sharif, who was toppled in a 1999 bloodless coup by former army chief Pervez Musharraf, has said generals have no place in politics.

He may also take steps to improve ties with Pakistan’s arch-enemy, India. Efforts to boost trade between the neighbours have stalled due to suspicion on both sides.

If Sharif is forced into a coalition he may look to Islamist parties to cobble together a majority in parliament.

On top of the 272 contested seats, a further 70 – most reserved for women and members of non-Muslim minorities – are allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the constituencies. To have a majority of the total of 342, the government would need 172 seats.

(Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Katharine Houreld in ISLAMABAD, Gul Yousafzai in QUETTA, Mubasher Bukhari in LAHORE and Jibran Ahmed in PESHAWAR; Editing by Jon Hemming)

The polls were a landmark, marking the first time one
elected government will replace another. But the vote failed to
realise the hopes of many that dynastic politics would end after
years of misrule and corruption.

The wealthy steel magnate from the pivotal Punjab province
held off a challenge from former cricket star Imran Khan who had
hoped to break decades of dominance by Sharif and the Pakistan
People’s Party led by the Bhutto family.

Sharif, 63, declared victory in a jubilant speech to
supporters as results from Saturday’s election showed a
overwhelming lead for his party.

“Results are still coming in, but this much is confirmed:
we’re the single largest party so far,” he declared to hoots of
joy from the crowd in Punjab’s capital, Lahore.

“Please pray that by morning we’re in a position that we
don’t need the crutch of coalition partners.”

Despite pre-election violence and attacks on Saturday that
killed at least 17 people, millions turned out to cast their
ballot in a milestone election for a country that has been ruled
by the military for more than half of its turbulent history.

With the count continuing into the night, Sharif’s Pakistan
Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) was leading in 119 of the 272
National Assembly seats that were contested.

His party may not have enough seats to rule on its own and
may be forced into a coalition, which could make it difficult to
push reforms desperately needed to revive a near-failed economy.

Sharif, who advocates free-market economics, is likely to
pursue privatisation and deregulation to revive flagging growth.

He will have to ease widespread discontent over endemic
corruption, chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure in
the nuclear-armed country, a strategic U.S. ally. One of the
first likely tasks will be to negotiate with the International
Monetary Fund for a multi-billion-dollar bailout.

Cricketing hero Khan in the end did not have the momentum
needed to trip up Sharif despite his popularity among urban
youths, many of whom were voting for the first time in an
election that saw a robust turnout of 60 percent.

They had rallied behind Khan’s calls for an end to graft and
a halt to U.S. drone strikes against suspected militants on
Pakistani soil.

Still, Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) put up a strong fight
against the PPP, with the count showing the two parties
neck-and-neck with about 34 seats each. The PPP led the
government for the past five years with 124 lawmakers in
parliament.

“Nawaz’s victory says two things about Pakistan: one, the
people of Pakistan prefer the comfort of status quo over the
uncertainty of revolutions; and two, all roads to the centre go
through Punjab, and in Punjab, people are right-leaning and
conservative,” said senior journalist Nusrat Javeed.

“Still, for a party that only really arrived on the
political scene in a serious way two years ago, PTI’s
performance was remarkable, to say the least.”

BLOODY ELECTION DAY

A string of bomb blasts marred election day, with one attack
on a party office in the southern city of Karachi killing 11
people and wounding about 40.

Pakistan’s Taliban, which is close to al Qaeda, has killed
more than 125 people in election-related violence since April.
The group, which is fighting to topple the U.S.-backed
government, regards the poll as un-Islamic.

Despite Pakistan’s history of coups, the army stayed out of
politics during the five years of the last government and threw
its support behind Saturday’s election.

It still sets foreign and security policy and will steer the
thorny relationship with Washington as NATO troops withdraw from
neighbouring Afghanistan in 2014.

However, some fear the military could step back in if there
were a repeat of the incompetence and corruption that frustrated
many Pakistanis during the last government.

Sharif, who was toppled in a 1999 bloodless coup by former
army chief Pervez Musharraf, has said generals have no place in
politics.

He may also take steps to improve ties with Pakistan’s
arch-enemy, India. Efforts to boost trade between the neighbours
have stalled due to suspicion on both sides.

If Sharif is forced into a coalition he may look to Islamist
parties to cobble together a majority in parliament.

On top of the 272 contested seats, a further 70 – most
reserved for women and members of non-Muslim minorities – are
allocated to parties on the basis of their performance in the
constituencies. To have a majority of the total of 342, the
government would need 172 seats.

(Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Katharine
Houreld in ISLAMABAD, Gul Yousafzai in QUETTA, Mubasher Bukhari
in LAHORE and Jibran Ahmed in PESHAWAR; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Sharif said on Saturday his Pakistan Muslim League
Party-Nawaz (PMLN) was the clear winner in general elections and
that he hoped for a majority to avoid a coalition.

He inherits a country with a dizzying array of troubles,
from chronic power cuts to a Taliban insurgency.

“The challenges are huge,” the portly Sharif told Reuters in
his bullet-proof car during the last days of campaigning. “We
have to bail out the economy.”

Sharif, who vows to bring in free market enterprise and ease
economic controls, says speedy growth is the only answer for
nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.

The powerful military still calls the shots in Pakistan but
the poll marked the first time that an elected government will
replace another one. Nevertheless, Sharif will have to work with
the generals, who control foreign policy and security.

The new civilian government will also have to play its part
in Pakistan’s difficult relationship with the United States.

Washington has a long-standing alliance with Pakistan, but
is troubled by elements in the country supporting Islamic
militants fighting U.S. troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan in 2011.

In addition, the economy is stuttering. Power cuts that can
last all day have infuriated Pakistanis and crippled key
industries. Corruption and poverty are rampant, and
infrastructure is crumbling.

Sharif, who made his fortune in steel, seems to have matured
as a politician since he was toppled by former army chief and
president Pervez Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999.

As the main opposition leader, he avoided antagonising
Pakistan’s powerful army, or bringing down the Pakistan People’s
Party-led coalition government when it was in trouble.

Instead, he waited patiently for an opportunity to rule and
now that his moment has come, he says he is in a hurry to fix
Pakistan.

The honeymoon will be short.

NEED FOR REFORM

Pakistan needs billions of dollars from donors to avert a
balance of payments crisis but the cash may not flow to the
South Asian nation unless politically sensitive economic reforms
are implemented.

So far, one politician after another has failed to muster
the courage to bring change. Sharif’s background suggests he may
have the stomach for it, based on his attempts in the past to
reverse socialist policies and open up the economy.

Sharif, who was born into a family of wealthy industrialists
in 1949, served as prime minister twice in the 1990s, when he
tried to promote free market policies.

His family is from Lahore, the capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s
most prosperous and populous province.

Now he says he is willing to again risk a backlash, and cut
government expenditure by 30 percent in order to secure
international backing for the economy.

“You see privatisation, free market economy, deregulation -
have been hallmarks of our party in government,” he said. “We
are going to pick up the threads from where we left off.”

Despite his reform credentials, Sharif may raise concerns in
the West because of his conservative Islamic values: in 1991 he
tried to make sharia the country’s supreme law.

More recently he has been accused of failing to act against
militant groups that have a breeding ground in Punjab. He is one
of the few major politicians not on the hit-list of Taliban
insurgents.

Sharif’s two terms as prime minister in the 1990s were
marred by allegations of graft and Pakistan conducted its first
nuclear tests on his watch in 1998.

THE MILITARY CONNECTION

Sharif was a protege of military dictator General Zia ul-Haq
in the 1980s.

But he became a victim of the powerful military when he was
overthrown by Musharraf. He was then convicted of corruption and
given a life sentence for hijacking, because he refused to allow
an airliner carrying Musharraf to land in Pakistan.

Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia, but never lost hope
of returning to politics one day.

“In private conversations, Nawaz still gets very emotional
when he remembers that period,” said a senior journalist who has
reported on Sharif for decades. “He has not forgotten being
handcuffed and walking through the airport. His face still gets
red in anger when he recalls those days.”

No surprise, then, that he now talks tough against the army
meddling in civilian affairs – a risky stance in a country ruled
by generals for more than half of its 66-year history, either
through coups or from behind the scenes.

Sharif’s attempt to fire Musharraf as army chief ultimately
cost him his job in 1999. He will have to avoid further errors
in judgment to survive Pakistan’s stormy politics, especially
when it comes to the top army officers.

Musharraf attempted a political comeback of his own in March
when he returned after nearly four years of self-imposed exile
hoping to contest the election.

Instead, he has been barred from public office for life and
is under house arrest at his luxury farmhouse as cases against
him grind through the courts.

With his nemesis humiliated and out of the picture, politics
has come full circle for Sharif. He has patiently plotted his
own return to the top from his lavish, 700-acre estate near
Lahore where peacocks strut on the lawns.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

Widespread disenchantment with the two mainstream parties appeared this week to have brought a late surge of support for former cricket star Imran Khan, who could end up holding the balance of power if there is no clear-cut winner.

If that happens, weeks of haggling to form a coalition will follow and raise the risk of an unstable government in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its history.

That would only make it more difficult to reverse the disgust with politicians felt among the country’s 180 million people and drive through the reforms needed to revive its near-failed economy.

Power cuts can last more than 10 hours a day in some places, crippling key industries like textiles, and a new International Monetary Fund bailout may be needed soon.

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.

“The problems facing the new government will be immense, and this may be the last chance that the country’s existing elites have to solve them,” said Anatol Lieven, a professor at King’s College, London, and author of a book on Pakistan.

“If the lives of ordinary Pakistanis are not significantly improved over the next five years, a return to authoritarian solutions remains a possibility,” Lieven wrote in a column in the Financial Times on Friday.

The army stayed out of politics during the five years of the last government, but it still sets the nuclear-armed country’s foreign and security policy and will steer the thorny relationship with Washington as NATO troops withdraw from neighboring Afghanistan next year.

The party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks set to win the most seats in the one-day vote, which gets under way across the country at 8 a.m. (0300 GMT).

However, Khan’s dark-horse challenge could deprive Sharif of a majority and dash his hopes for a return to power 14 years after he was ousted in a military coup, jailed and later exiled.

Pakistan’s best-known sportsman, who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, Khan is seen by many as a refreshing change from the dynastic politicians who long relied on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

THREAT OF ATTACKS

Voters will elect 272 members of the National Assembly and to win a simple majority, a party would have to take 137 seats.

However, the election is complicated by the fact that a further 70 seats, most 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 of the total of 342, a party would need 172.

Khan appeals mostly to young, urban voters because of his calls for an end to corruption, a new political landscape and a halt to U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil.

The 60-year-old is in hospital after injuring himself in a fall at a party rally, which may also win him sympathy votes.

Early opinion polls had put the share of votes for his Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party as low as single figures. However, a survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).

The Herald magazine poll showed Sharif’s party remained the front-runner in Punjab, which, with the largest share of parliamentary seats, usually dictates the outcome of elections.

It also pointed to an upset for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which led the last government, placing it third. Pakistan’s politics have long been dominated by the PML-N and the PPP, whose most prominent figure is President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto.

“The PPP didn’t take care of the poor masses and always engages in corrupt practices whenever they come to power,” said Sher Nabi, a banker from Peshawar.

“So we’ve decided to vote for the PTI candidate this time and test Imran Khan to see if he proves as honest as he claims.”

In the violence ahead of the election, militants mostly targeted secular-leaning parties in the PPP’s outgoing coalition and largely spared more conservative parties that question Pakistan’s participation in the U.S.-led campaign against militancy, including those of both Khan and Sharif.

Many Pakistanis still plan to vote despite the bloodshed.

“I want to go out and vote but my parents are scared there will be a bomb or a shooting,” said 21-year-old Nargis Fatima, a student in Quetta, one of Pakistan’s most volatile cities.

“This is the first time I’m old enough to vote and I’ll try my best to go out there and feel that I am part of whatever new set-up comes into place.”

(Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in ISLAMABAD, Gul Yousafzai in QUETTA, Mubasher Bukhari in LAHORE and Jibran Ahmed in PESHAWAR; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

The failure of other parties to capture a commanding lead raises the risk a weak government will emerge, clouding optimism over the first transition between civilian governments in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half its history.

In a sign of Khan’s popularity, 35,000 supporters turned up on Thursday at a rally in Islamabad that he didn’t even attend.

The 60-year-old is in hospital after suffering injuries in a fall from a mechanical lift at a rally this week, which may also win him sympathy votes.

“While Khan was initially handicapped by the lack of party organisation and the absence of a formal presence at the provincial level, he managed to overcome these challenges by establishing a network of volunteers who have campaigned frenetically and held massive public rallies in recent weeks,” said Shamila Chaudhary, senior editor at Eurasia Group.

Khan, Pakistan’s most well-known sportsmen who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, has emerged as a tough challenger to dynastic politicians who have relied heavily on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

Campaigning officially ended at midnight on Thursday. Election-related violence that has killed more than 110 people continued on the eve of the vote.

Five people were killed in bomb attacks on party offices on Friday, one in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, and the other in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The al Qaeda-linked Pakistan Taliban, which regards the elections as un-Islamic, are responsible for the attacks that have made this the country’s bloodiest election yet, and on Thursday they revealed plans for suicide bombings on polling day.

“FRACTURED MANDATE” WARNING

Khan, who appeals mostly to young, urban voters, has won support by calling for an end to corruption, a new political landscape and a halt to U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil.

Early opinion polls had put the share of votes for Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party as low as single figures.

However, a survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).

The Herald magazine poll showed Sharif’s party remained the front-runner in Punjab, which, with the largest share of parliamentary seats, usually dictates the outcome of elections.

It also pointed to an upset for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which led the last government, placing it in third place. The political landscape has long been dominated by the PML-N and the PPP, whose co-chairman is President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“The PPP didn’t take care of the poor masses and always engages in corrupt practices whenever they come to power,” said Sher Nabi, a banker from Peshawar.

“So we’ve decided to vote for the PTI candidate this time and test Imran Khan to see if proves as honest as he claims.”

Sharif, who was prime minister twice in the 1990s, has said he would reconsider Pakistan’s support for the U.S. war on Islamist militancy and promote free-market economics if he won.

He has warned that any coalition politics would paralyse policy-making.

“Whichever party wins, it needs to have a very clear majority for it to have the necessary policies to deal with the serious challenges the country faces, for the state to have a strong writ,” he told the Dawn newspaper.

“A fractured mandate, a split mandate, would be worse than the last five years.”

While the outgoing PPP made history by becoming the first civilian government to serve a full five-year term, it failed to tackle a dizzying array of problems.

The economy is feeble and may need another International Monetary Fund bailout to stay afloat. Chronic power cuts can last more than 10 hours a day in some places, crippling key industries like textiles and enraging ordinary people.

After months of campaigning, political parties may now become enmeshed in negotiations that might only delay the huge task of putting the nuclear-armed country on the right track.

“While a hung parliament is a possibility given the expected fractured outcome of polling, it is the least desirable outcome for all parties,” said analyst Chaudhary.

“It would lead to an unstable minority government that could conceivably be led by PML-N, PPP, or even PTI, inevitably leading to another round of elections that, given physical and financial requirements, the full range of parties would rather avoid.”

(Editing by John Chalmers and Robert Birsel)

The failure of the major parties to capture a commanding lead raises the risk a weak government will emerge, clouding optimism over the first transition between civilian governments in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half its history.

The party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks set to win the most seats, returning Sharif to power 14 years after he was ousted in a military coup, imprisoned and later exiled.

But Khan could end up holding the balance of power if there is no clear-cut winner. In a sign of his popularity, 35,000 supporters turned up on Thursday at a rally in Islamabad that he didn’t even attend.

The 60-year-old is in hospital after suffering injuries in a fall from a mechanical lift at a rally this week, which may also win him sympathy votes.

“While Khan was initially handicapped by the lack of party organization and the absence of a formal presence at the provincial level, he managed to overcome these challenges by establishing a network of volunteers who have campaigned frenetically and held massive public rallies in recent weeks,” said Shamila Chaudhary, senior editor at Eurasia Group.

Khan, Pakistan’s most well-known sportsmen who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, has emerged as a tough challenger to dynastic politicians who have relied heavily on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

Campaigning officially ended at midnight on Thursday. Election-related violence that has killed more than 110 people continued on the eve of the vote.

Five people were killed in bomb attacks on party offices on Friday, one in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, and the other in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The al Qaeda-linked Pakistan Taliban, which regards the elections as un-Islamic, are responsible for the attacks that have made this the country’s bloodiest election yet, and on Thursday they revealed plans for suicide bombings on polling day.

The militants have mostly targeted the more secular-leaning parties in the outgoing coalition led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), severely restricting their ability to campaign.

The bombers have largely spared the more conservative parties that have voiced doubts about Pakistan’s participation in the U.S.-led campaign against militancy, including those of both Khan and Sharif.

Pakistanis say they will still vote, despite the bloodshed.

“I will vote for Imran Khan because he is a symbol of change,” said student Waqas Ali. “We have tested other leaders several times but they are useless. I will go to the polling station despite serious threats of terrorism.”

“FRACTURED MANDATE” WARNING

Khan, who appeals mostly to young, urban voters, has won support by calling for an end to corruption, a new political landscape and a halt to U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil.

Early opinion polls had put the share of votes for Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party as low as single figures.

However, a survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).

The Herald magazine poll showed Sharif’s party remained the front-runner in Punjab, which, with the largest share of parliamentary seats, usually dictates the outcome of elections.

It also pointed to an upset for the PPP placing it in third place. Politics have long been dominated by the PML-N and the PPP, whose co-chairman is President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“The PPP didn’t take care of the poor masses and always engages in corrupt practices whenever they come to power,” said Sher Nabi, a banker from Peshawar.

“So we’ve decided to vote for the PTI candidate this time and test Imran Khan to see if proves as honest as he claims.”

The army has vowed to stay out of politics but has never enjoyed warm relations with the PPP, which has a long record of opposition to military involvement in government.

Some analysts say the preferred election outcome for the army would be a parliament where no one party holds a majority, with the balance of power held by Khan. Analysts say the military see Khan as a useful foil to the main parties.

Sharif, who was prime minister twice in the 1990s, has said he would reconsider Pakistan’s support for the U.S. war on Islamist militancy and promote free-market economics if he won.

He has warned that any coalition politics would paralyze policy-making.

“Whichever party wins, it needs to have a very clear majority for it to have the necessary policies to deal with the serious challenges the country faces, for the state to have a strong writ,” he told the Dawn newspaper.

“A fractured mandate, a split mandate, would be worse than the last five years.”

While the outgoing PPP made history by becoming the first civilian government to serve a full five-year term, it failed to tackle a dizzying array of problems.

The economy is feeble and may need another International Monetary Fund bailout to stay afloat. Chronic power cuts can last more than 10 hours a day in some places, crippling key industries like textiles and enraging ordinary people.

After months of campaigning, political parties may now become enmeshed in negotiations that might only delay the huge task of putting the nuclear-armed country on the right track.

“While a hung parliament is a possibility given the expected fractured outcome of polling, it is the least desirable outcome for all parties,” said analyst Chaudhary.

“It would lead to an unstable minority government that could conceivably be led by PML-N, PPP, or even PTI, inevitably leading to another round of elections that, given physical and financial requirements, the full range of parties would rather avoid.”

(Editing by John Chalmers and Robert Birsel)

The failure of other parties to capture a commanding lead raises the risk a weak government will emerge, clouding optimism over the first transition between civilian governments in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half its history.

In a sign of Khan’s popularity, 35,000 supporters turned up on Thursday at a rally in Islamabad that he didn’t even attend.

The 60-year-old is in hospital after suffering injuries in a fall from a mechanical lift at a rally this week, which may also win him sympathy votes.

“While Khan was initially handicapped by the lack of party organisation and the absence of a formal presence at the provincial level, he managed to overcome these challenges by establishing a network of volunteers who have campaigned frenetically and held massive public rallies in recent weeks,” said Shamila Chaudhary, senior editor at Eurasia Group.

Khan, Pakistan’s most well-known sportsmen who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, has emerged as a tough challenger to dynastic politicians who have relied heavily on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

Campaigning officially ended at midnight on Thursday. Election-related violence that has killed more than 110 people continued on the eve of the vote.

Five people were killed in bomb attacks on party offices on Friday, one in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, and the other in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The al Qaeda-linked Pakistan Taliban, which regards the elections as un-Islamic, are responsible for the attacks that have made this the country’s bloodiest election yet, and on Thursday they revealed plans for suicide bombings on polling day.

“FRACTURED MANDATE” WARNING

Khan, who appeals mostly to young, urban voters, has won support by calling for an end to corruption, a new political landscape and a halt to U.S. drone strikes on Pakistani soil.

Early opinion polls had put the share of votes for Khan’s Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party as low as single figures.

However, a survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).

The Herald magazine poll showed Sharif’s party remained the front-runner in Punjab, which, with the largest share of parliamentary seats, usually dictates the outcome of elections.

It also pointed to an upset for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which led the last government, placing it in third place. The political landscape has long been dominated by the PML-N and the PPP, whose co-chairman is President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

“The PPP didn’t take care of the poor masses and always engages in corrupt practices whenever they come to power,” said Sher Nabi, a banker from Peshawar.

“So we’ve decided to vote for the PTI candidate this time and test Imran Khan to see if proves as honest as he claims.”

Sharif, who was prime minister twice in the 1990s, has said he would reconsider Pakistan’s support for the U.S. war on Islamist militancy and promote free-market economics if he won.

He has warned that any coalition politics would paralyse policy-making.

“Whichever party wins, it needs to have a very clear majority for it to have the necessary policies to deal with the serious challenges the country faces, for the state to have a strong writ,” he told the Dawn newspaper.

“A fractured mandate, a split mandate, would be worse than the last five years.”

While the outgoing PPP made history by becoming the first civilian government to serve a full five-year term, it failed to tackle a dizzying array of problems.

The economy is feeble and may need another International Monetary Fund bailout to stay afloat. Chronic power cuts can last more than 10 hours a day in some places, crippling key industries like textiles and enraging ordinary people.

After months of campaigning, political parties may now become enmeshed in negotiations that might only delay the huge task of putting the nuclear-armed country on the right track.

“While a hung parliament is a possibility given the expected fractured outcome of polling, it is the least desirable outcome for all parties,” said analyst Chaudhary.

“It would lead to an unstable minority government that could conceivably be led by PML-N, PPP, or even PTI, inevitably leading to another round of elections that, given physical and financial requirements, the full range of parties would rather avoid.” (Editing by John Chalmers and Robert Birsel)

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, in a message to the group’s spokesman, outlined plans for attacks, including suicide blasts, in all four of the country’s provinces.

“We don’t accept the system of infidels which is called democracy,” Mehsud said in the letter, dated May 1, and obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

Since April, the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 100 people in attacks on candidates and rallies, particularly those of secular-leaning parties, in a bid to undermine elections they regard as un-Islamic.

The attacks have prevented candidates from the three main parties in the ruling coalition from holding big rallies. Instead, they have relied on door-to-door campaigning or small meetings in homes or on street corners.

Gunmen kidnapped the son of Yusuf Raza Gilani, former prime minister and stalwart of the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), as he was headed to a small political gathering In the central city of Multan, police said.

Ali Haider Gilani’s secretary and guard were shot dead in the attack.

MILITANTS SPARE MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY

The Pakistani Taliban have not attacked the main opposition party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which has courted support from groups accused of supporting militancy.

Sharif, who is seen as favourite to become the next prime minister, says Pakistan should reconsider its support for the U.S. war on Islamist militancy and suggests he would be in favour of negotiations with the Taliban.

Nor have the Taliban attacked former cricketer Imran Khan’s party, which advocates shooting down U.S. drones and withdrawing the Pakistani military from insurgency-infested ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghan border.

The letter from Mehsud is bound to raise fears of attacks during the historic vote.

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it would send tens of thousands of troops to polling stations and counting centres to prevent the Taliban from disrupting the election.

The polls, already Pakistan’s most violent, marks the first time that a civilian government will complete a full term and hand over to another administration.

The Taliban are blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, a nuclear-armed strategic ally.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said 300,000 security officials, including 32,000 troops, had been deployed in Punjab, the most populous province.

“Definitely they have reports and obviously they have made a plan to counter that,” newspapers quoted him as saying, referring to security agencies getting threats of violence from the Taliban.

Another 96,000 security forces would be deployed in the northwest of Pakistan, where the Taliban operate from strongholds.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) has capitalised on widespread frustrations with the outgoing government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 66-year history, either through coups or from behind the scenes. (Editing by Robert Birsel and Ron Popeski)

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, in a message to the group’s spokesman, outlined plans for attacks, including suicide blasts, in all four of the country’s provinces.

“We don’t accept the system of infidels which is called democracy,” Mehsud said in the letter, dated May 1, and obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

Since April, the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 100 people in attacks on candidates and rallies, particularly those of secular-leaning parties, in a bid to undermine elections they regard as un-Islamic.

The attacks have prevented candidates from the three main parties in the ruling coalition from holding big rallies. Instead, they have relied on door-to-door campaigning or small meetings in homes or on street corners.

However, the militants have not attacked the main opposition party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which has courted support from groups accused of supporting militancy.

Sharif, who is seen as favourite to become the next prime minister, says Pakistan should reconsider its support for the U.S. war on Islamist militancy and suggests he would be in favour of negotiations with the Taliban.

Nor have the Taliban attacked former cricketer Imran Khan’s party, which advocates shooting down U.S. drones and withdrawing the Pakistani military from insurgency-infested ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghan border.

The letter from Mehsud is bound to raise fears of attacks during the historic vote.

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it would send tens of thousands of troops to polling stations and counting centres to prevent the Taliban from disrupting the election.

The polls, already Pakistan’s most violent, marks the first time that a civilian government will complete a full term and hand over to another administration.

The Taliban are blamed for many of the suicide bombings across Pakistan, a nuclear-armed strategic ally.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said 300,000 security officials, including 32,000 troops, had been deployed in Punjab, the most populous province.

“Definitely they have reports and obviously they have made a plan to counter that,” newspapers quoted him as saying, referring to security agencies getting threats of violence from the Taliban.

Another 96,000 security forces would be deployed in the northwest of Pakistan, where the Taliban operate from strongholds.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) has capitalised on widespread frustrations with the outgoing government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The military has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 66-year history, either through coups or from behind the scenes.

(Created by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishanan and Robert Birsel)