Pak polls: Sharif votes, confident of victory

Lahore: Former Prime Minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, the frontrunner in Pakistan`s landmark polls, cast his ballot on Saturday, and said he was confident of receiving "good news" about his victory.

Speaking to the media after casting his vote, Sharif said he was hopeful of his party`s victory and was praying for a good outcome for the country. Sporting a badge depicting his election emblem, a tiger, Sharif said, "It was my desire and it is my dream which I see today being fulfilled. Parliament completed five years and now people are electing another parliament for the next five years." "My prayer is that the outcome of this election should be good for this country. On whomever Allah bestows victory, I hope he will be able to deliver," said the 63-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader. Sharif-led PML-N is widely tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the polls. He could end up becoming a premier for the third time if he is able to cobble together a coalition comprising the religious, nationalist and right-wing parties that are expected to do well in the provinces. Sharif said he was "confident that tonight we will start receiving good news from across the country". "Muslim League-N has brought change in the lives of people in the past and PML-N is the only party which has an agenda for the future," he said. "I pray that whatever happens, may Allah make it good for Pakistan and good for Pakistani people," he told reporters at the polling station in Lahore, his stronghold. "Whatever God does will be good for Pakistan," he added. Pakistanis today voted to choose new national and provincial assemblies, setting in motion the first democratic transition of power in the country`s 66-year history. PTI