IF media projections are not wide of the mark, Nawaz Sharif, once a political exile deposed by the military, may become Pakistan's prime minister for a third time. His PML-N has taken an unassailable lead over its rivals in landmark general elections that witnessed a huge turnout. Trends from 264 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls on Saturday showed that PML-N was set to bag in excess of 125 seats, while Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were lagging far behind with 34 and 32 seats, respectively. Among the ruling party kingpins who lost their seats was Raja Pervez Ashraf, the outgoing prime minister. What Pakistan witnessed on Saturday was a revolutionary “tsunami” though not the one envisioned by the former cricket player. The election was Pakistan's 10th since 1970 but the first in which a civilian government that has served a full five-year term is poised to peacefully hand over power to another elected government. This is an impressive achievement given the South Asian nation's turbulent past. There is more. Unlike in the past, in this election there was little or no evidence of involvement by the military. By any reckoning, this was an election fought fiercely and conducted fearlessly. About 4,670 candidates fought for 272 directly elected seats in Parliament. They include the first female candidates in the tribal belt along the Afghan border. Almost 11,000 people battled for the four provincial assemblies. People voted in the face of Taliban threats and actual violence. At least 21 people were reported killed in attacks across Pakistan on Saturday. Over a hundred died, and more than 300 were wounded during April alone. Campaigning was further marred Thursday when Ali Haider Gilani, 27, the son of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, was shot and kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in southern Punjab. Proving all pessimists wrong, the election has returned a clear verdict. Now it is for Nawaz Sharif to give the people what they have been looking for all these years. They want real change in their lives and in their country's relations with the three countries that matter most to them – India, Afghanistan and the US. On the domestic front, the new prime minister will have to deal with a stalled economy and end power blackouts and natural gas shortages. An emboldened Taliban insurgency poses grave threats. True, the Pakistan Taliban have spared Sharif and his campaign while mounting successive attacks on other candidates. But the Taliban may not remain quiet just because Sharif or his party, while in opposition, called for talks with them. As for foreign policy, the PML-N chief has promised a commission on the 2008 Mumbai attacks that derailed the Pakistan-India dialogue. This means that he realizes the importance of good relations with neighboring India unlike some hardliners in his party. Sharif is also for Pakistan reconsidering its commitments to the US war on terror. One does not know how far he can recalibrate relations with Washington without ruffling the army's feathers. But nobody disputes that his first priority should be an end to the war in Afghanistan without plunging that country once again into the chaotic situation that followed the Soviet withdrawal. This requires continued good relations with the US. But good relations need not mean agreeing to everything the US does or wants.
