Pakistan has begun voting in a general election that pits cricket hero Imran Khan against the party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan's cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) politcal party. Photo: AFP
A decade after Pakistan was last ruled by a military government, the election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Mr Khan's favour after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Mr Sharif.
Mr Khan has emerged as a slight favourite in national polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country's most populous province, where Sharif's party has clung to its lead in recent surveys.
Medical student Yousaf Ali, a 22-year-old first-time voter, cast his ballot for Khan's party in the city of Lahore in Punjab.
"Let's test Imran as we have been testing others for the last several decades," he said.
About 106 million people are registered to vote.
Whichever party wins, it will face a mounting in-tray: Economic crisis, worsening relations with the United States, and deepening water shortages.
Mr Khan is an anti-corruption crusader and promised an "Islamic welfare state". He cast his populist campaign as a battle to topple a predatory political elite hindering development in the impoverished, mostly-Muslim, nation of 208 million people, where the illiteracy rate is above 40 percent.
"We are pitched against mafias," Mr Khan, 65, said in one of his last rallies.
"These are mafias who made money in this country and siphoned it abroad, burying this nation in debt."
Mr Khan has staunchly denied allegations by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party that he is getting help from the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its history. The army has dismissed these allegations.
Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has inched ahead of PML-N in recent national polls but even if it gets the most votes it is likely struggle to win a majority of the 272 elected seats in the National Assembly. A coalition government will be needed.
A currency crisis is expected to force the new government to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Pakistan's second bailout since 2013. PTI has not ruled out seeking succour from China, Islamabad's closest ally.
- Reuters