Pakistan’s political parties yesterday began negotiating to form the next government after Thursday’s general election resulted in a hung verdict.

The United States, Britain and the European Union on Friday separately expressed concerns about Pakistan's electoral process in the wake of a vote on Thursday and urged a probe into reported irregularities

Pakistani women who had pledged to defy men in their village by voting for the first time ultimately did not exercise their democratic right in Wednesday's election, citing intimidation by their husbands.

A titanic 46 million people below the age of 35 are registered to vote in Pakistan nationwide elections on July 25 -- many of them savvy social media users who are posting videos calling out the powerful.

Much has changed in the last five years in the coastal metropolis of Karachi consisting 20 million people, and the transformation is playing out in the run-up to Pakistan's general election next week.

Pakistan goes to polls under a caretaker government amid judicial activism and militant attacks. Former Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, heading a six-member cabinet, took over as caretaker prime minister on June 1, 2018 to oversee the general election scheduled for July 25, 2018.