Recently, about 150 people were killed nationwide during this bloody campaign season. And it ended with the death of Zara Shahid Hussain, a top politician in Pakistan's Tehrik-i-Insaf party. On Sunday, some constituencies accused of vote-rigging voted again.
It was not immediately clear to know who killed Zara Shahid Hussain – a leading member of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party of former cricket star Imran Khan. The attack in the upscale Defence area, the family neighborhood of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, capped a bloody election campaign in which around 150 people were killed nationwide.
Last Saturday's elections handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). But results from a handful of constituencies across the country are still uncertain amid accusations of vote-rigging. There is re-polling in a few others where security issues prevented voting.
The re-vote took place at 43 of 180 polling stations. The MQM, which wanted re-polling of the whole constituency, boycotted the vote. Whatever the result, Sharif's national landslide win is assured. But as Pakistan's financial centre, Karachi generates around half of government revenues and stability in the city is the key to stability of the whole country.
For the first time, each ballot box was guarded by a ranger and a soldier inside and outside the booths to ensure security and no violence had been reported by early afternoon.
----By Sherry