ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan’s Lower House (National Assembly) is due to be dissolved today (Wednesday), ushering in a technocrat-led interim government to oversee an election that will not include the country’s most popular politician, the chief of the ex-ruling party PTI.
The country has been in political turmoil since the former international cricket star was booted from power in April last year, culminating in his being jailed for graft at the weekend following a months-long crackdown on his party.
By law, elections should be held within 90 days of parliament’s dissolution, but the outgoing government has already warned they are likely to be delayed.
The unlikely coalition between the country’s usually feuding dynastic parties – which came together to kick out the PTI chief – has won little popular support during its 18 months at the helm of the world’s fifth-most populous country.