Pakistan to hold general election on July 25

ISLAMABAD, May 27 (Agencies): Pakistan will hold a general election on July 25 and President Mamnoon Hussain has approved the date, electoral officials said on Sunday, as the government enters its final week in office.

Pakistan's government and parliament is due to be dissolved on May 31, when a new interim prime minister and an interim administration is meant to take over.

However, political wrangling between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and the opposition in parliament had delayed the announcement of the new interim premier.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, or Justice Party, is expected to be the main challenger to the ruling party.

The outgoing government of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is only the second to complete a five year term in office, which underscores a democratic transition in the nuclear armed nation.

The upcoming election is due to be held at a time of growing political instability, with the ruling PML-N party accusing the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history since independence in 1947, of interfering in politics and trying to weaken it. The military denies involvement in politics.

Meanwhile, Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan's party vowed Sunday to oust the country's "corrupt" rulers, as the nuclear-armed state announced it will hold general elections on July 25.

The poll will bring to a head political tensions that have been building since former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court on corruption charges and later barred from politics for life.

Khan is hoping to achieve a years-long dream of leading the country as its prime minister, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is the main challenger to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which was headed by Sharif until his ban. PTI leaders have said they are confident they will be able to defeat the PML-N.

"The Pakistani nation... can see the dawn of a new Pakistan, which will not be ruled by the corrupt," the party said in a statement posted Sunday on Twitter along with a graphic that read "Mafia's Game Over".

"Stop us if you can," it said in another tweet. The bullish comments came after Pakistan's president Mamnoon Hussain on Saturday approved July 25 as the date for the elections, which offer the prospect of what would be only the second-ever democratic transfer of power in the South Asian country.

The current government, led by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, is expected to hand over power to a caretaker administration in the coming days.

Despite Sharif's ouster, the ruling party says it has invested in improving Pakistan's rickety infrastructure and attracted billions of dollars in Chinese investment. It has also denied allegations of graft against its leadership by opponents like Khan.