Problems await Pakistan winner

Sharif said to be clear leader

LAHORE, Pakistan - Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif looked poised Sunday to return to office with a resounding election victory - a mandate that could make it easier to tackle the country’s problems, including growing power failures, weak economic growth and shaky government finances.

Questions remain, however, about Sharif ’s stance on another key issue: violent Islamic extremism. Critics have accused his party of being soft on radicals because it hasn’t cracked down on militant groups in its stronghold, Punjab province.

That could be a concern for the United States, which has pushed Pakistan for years to take stronger action against Islamic militant groups, especially fighters staging cross-border attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

As unofficial returns rolled in Sunday, a day after the election, state TV estimates put Sharif close to the majority in the national assembly needed to govern outright for the next five years. Even if he falls short of that threshold, independent candidates almost certain to swing in Sharif’s favor would give his Pakistan Muslim League-N party a ruling majority.

That would put the 63-year-old Sharif in a much stronger position than the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party, which ruled for five years with a weak coalition that was often on the verge of collapse.

However, Pakistani election officials said final results would take days, even as anger grew over accusations of rampant vote-rigging, particularly in Karachi.

Sharif ’s main opponent, Imran Khan, in his first public comments since Saturday’s election, said his party would investigate reports of irregularities. His supporters staged protests in Karachi outside the Election Commission office and in the upscale Clifton neighborhood, demanding a new election for all of the port city’s parliamentary seats. They also demonstrated into the night in Lahore.

The secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan, said the final parliamentary count was delayed because of legal requirements for verification and that the official results would not come before midweek. But he denied claims by some political workers that the delay would make it easier to falsify results.

He stressed that as of Sunday night, the winners of only 44 of the 272 seats had been officially determined.

Pakistan suffers from a growing energy crisis, with some areas experiencing power failures for as many as 18 hours a day. That has hurt the economy, pushing growth below 4 percent a year. The country needs a growth rate of twice that to provide jobs for its expanding population of 180 million.

Sharif, the son of a wealthy industrialist, is seen by many as more likely to tackle the country’s economic problems effectively because much of his party’s support comes from businessmen.

The Pakistan People’s Party was widely perceived to have done little on the economic front.

“Anything better than zero and you have already improved on the PPP’s performance in terms of managing the economy,” said Cyril Almeida, a columnist for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.

The former ruling party was soundly beaten in Saturday’s election. Sharif’s party was leading in contests for 127 seats, just short of the 137 directly elected seats needed to form a majority, state TV said.

The Pakistan People’s Party was ahead in contests for 32 national assembly seats, based on partial vote counts. That is a significant drop from the 91 seats the party won in the 2008 election.

Independent candidates were leading in more than 20 contests, and they historically join the party that forms the government, which would leave the Pakistan Muslim League-N with a majority.

It was a remarkable comeback for the two-time prime minister, who was toppled in a 1999 coup by then-army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf and was sent into exile in Saudi Arabia for years.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised “the historic peaceful and transparent transfer of civilian power.” Information for this article was contributed by Asif Shahzad, Sebastian Abbot, Rebecca Santana, Munir Ahmed, Zarar Khan and Kathy Gannon of The Associated Press; and by Salman Masood, Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud and Zia ur-Rehman of The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 05/13/2013

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