Polls watched closely
Tens of millions of Pakistanis voted yesterday in local government elections for the first time in ten years, polls seen as a referendum on the ruling party midway through its term. The opposition, led by international cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, is hoping to build a national coalition that could challenge Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party at the next general election. Elections are being held in two of Pakistan's four provinces - the central province of Punjab and southern province of Sindh. Observers are closely watching the polls in Punjab, Pakistan's richest and most populous province and the power base of Sharif, who swept to national power in a landslide election in 2013
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