Nawaz Sharif sets for a third term as Pakistan's Prime Minister as his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party took a massive lead over its rivals in the general election held yesterday.

According to provisional results from across the country some 263 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls show that the PML-N has bagged more than 120 seats, while the Pakistan People Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf are lagging far behind with about 35 seats each.

Others The results are still coming. To win a simple majority, a party or coalition would have to bag 137 of the 272 National Assembly seats for which polls were held.

Another 70 seats, reserved for women and non-Muslims, will be allocated to parties according to their performance in polls. To have a majority 342-member National Assembly, a party or coalition would need 172 seats.

Despite attacks that killed 29 people, Pakistanis turn out in huge numbers yesterday to vote in an election that marked a historic democratic transfer of power in a country plagued by military coup.

Pakistan's Taliban, which is close to al Qaeda, has killed more than 125 people in election-related violence since April.