Imran Khan Has Declared Victory in Pakistan's Election. But the Military Won

Shamila Chaudhary wrote for NPR on the military's manipulation in the campaign environment and the return to 1990s-style party politics: 

The Pakistani people have spoken. In Wednesday's parliamentary elections, they voted in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), a political party led by former cricket star turned politician Imran Khan, to form the next government. PTI will most likely install Khan as the prime minister.

But have the Pakistani people told us what they want? We can't be sure, and here's why: The campaign environment leading up to the elections was heavily manipulated by pro-PTI forces, namely members of the military, judiciary and the political elite — a collection of powerful individuals and institutions commonly referred to in Pakistan as "the establishment." The civilians who join forces with the military to achieve its dominance — including a politicized judiciary that historically has been used as a tool to justify the military's extra-constitutional measures — often reap benefits typically reserved for those in uniform.