Islamic parties surge
The week's news at a glance.
Islamabad
Hard-line Islamic parties running on an anti-American platform gained ground in Pakistan’s first elections since Gen. Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup. A moderate party supported by Musharraf, the Pakistan Muslim League, came in first with 77 seats, and the reformist Pakistan People’s Party, headed by exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was second with 62 seats. The most harmonious outcome would be for those two parties to form a government together, but that’s unlikely since Musharraf and Bhutto hate each other. Instead, a group of Islamic parties called Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which came in third with 50 seats, may be asked to join a coalition government. That prospect worries neighboring Afghanistan. An Afghan government spokesman said the MMA “had provided financial support and fighters to the Taliban in the past.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published