Posted on 08/23/2005 11:18:30 AM PDT by msnimje
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - Qaim Din Khan hopes a simple message will win him re-election on Thursday in Pakistan's most hotly contested elections in years.
Akhtar Soomro for The New York Times Qaim Din Khan, running for re-election as nazim, a local official similar to a mayor, gestured to supporters on Friday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
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Akhtar Soomro for The New York Times Mr. Khan's "central election office" is a vacant lot on two-lane street in Rawalpindi. He faces three rivals for the office of nazim. "We installed transformers," he said. "Got streets paved."
Mr. Khan's candidacy, approach and ambitions are revolutionary in Pakistan.
A burly, straight-talking, 42-year-old car parts salesman with a 10th-grade education, Mr. Khan is one of 218,000 budding Pakistani politicians running in nationwide elections for the coveted new post of "nazim," the rough equivalent of a mayor in the United States. Four years ago, the offices did not exist. Today, they are a bright spot in an otherwise failed Western effort to turn Pakistan into a stable and vibrant democracy.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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