Ballot power in Pakistan

Following an action- and tragedy-packed 2007, the new year began in Pakistan with unprecedented uncertainty surrounding the coming elections. All eyes were on 18 February, the day that ex-general-cum-civilian-president Pervez Musharraf had committed to unfold the so-called third phase of what he proudly called Pakistan's "real transition to democracy". In fact, this was the day that saw the beginning – or the unquestionable speeding-up – of his downfall, as the people of Pakistan spoke loudly and clearly through the ballot.

In the end, of the total 272 National Assembly seats, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won 87; the Pakistan Muslim League (N), of Mian Nawaz Sharif, won 66; and the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), which has long backed President Musharraf, finished with a miserable 40 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the most powerful party in Sindh and formerly a coalition partner of the PML (Q), won only 19 seats. In the midst of the euphoria among what till now had been the opposition, the manner in which the voters had decisively rejected the pro-government candidates plunged the country into further uncertainty. Indeed, the question now is whether the result of the long-awaited general elections will take the country towards a new era of democracy and change, or whether Pakistanis will be dragged into more crises, including acrimony within the parties in government and a drawn-out tug-of-war between the omnipotent president and the newly elected Parliament.