Hope and Change, Pakistani Style

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

PMLN supporters celebrate their victory in Pakistan's first peaceful, full-term transfer of civilian power

No argument: Pakistan's May 11 general election was a singular milestone. For the first time in a 66-year history riddled with coups, a civilian government that completed its full five-year term was replaced, by voting Pakistanis, with another civilian administration. Military brass continues to glint in the shadows, but the army kept to its barracks.

The news isn't all good. Though the results confirm the victory of Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PMLN) party — vaulting him to the prime ministership for the third time — they also reveal how little has...

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