Pakistan’s largest province to hold snap polls in win for former PM Khan

Reuters:

LAHORE, Jan 16 – A snap local election will be held in Pakistan’s most populous province, officials said, after the provincial leader, an ally of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, triggered the poll, putting pressure on the government ahead a planned general election.

Holding local elections in a province with 110 million people, around half Pakistan’s population, would be an expensive, logistically complicated exercise for a government dependant on foreign aid and reeling from the impact of last year’s devastating floods.

By bringing forward a local poll, political analysts say it could pressure the national government into holding a countrywide election earlier to avoid the huge double cost of two votes.

Punjab is one of two provinces ruled by a coalition partner of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party.

Khan has been demanding general elections since he was ousted in April after losing a parliamentary vote of confidence. The 70-year-old former international cricketer has also led nationwide protests against his successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.