Campaigning starts in Pakistans delayed national polls

ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: The frontrunner party for Pakistans delayed elections began campaigning Monday, after a weekend court decision effectively sealed the opposition party of ex-prime minister Imran Khan out of the race.
Pakistans vote next month has been marred by claims of pre-poll rigging, with analysts saying the army establishment is orchestrating Khans exclusion whilst backing three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
On Monday, Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party kicked off campaigning in the eastern city of Okara, where thousands of supporters thronged for speeches by senior leaders.
"Those who love this country can vote for anyone else but Nawaz Sharif," said his daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, a vice-president of the PML-N party.
Meanwhile Khan -- the nations most popular politician -- is languishing in jail and barred from standing as a result of cases he claims have been confected by the establishment.On Saturday, the Supreme Court dealt a fresh blow to his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by denying them their cricket bat election symbol on ballot papers.
The move effectively forces PTI candidates to run as independents and disallows them an icon vital for allowing millions of illiterate voters to identify party nominees February 8.
PTI once had huge street power, able to muster thousands in carnivalesque rallies across the country until authorities staged a months-long crackdown.
On Sunday, a PTI gathering in the southern city of Karachi was disbanded by police who arrested the organisers.
The poll will take place amid increasing militant attacks and an economic nosedive that has ravaged the rupee and sent the cost-of-living soaring.
Originally due in November, the election commission delayed the vote in order to redraw constituencies after a new census.
Analysts suggest the hold-up has benefitted the powerful army establishment seen as the chief architects of an ongoing crackdown denting the prospects of Khan and PTI.    —AFP