Meanwhile, PML-N was under the leadership of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, although the party's eponymous founder Nawaz Sharif had returned from exile and was taking part in the Election campaign.

Although Ameen Faheem was expected to lead the new government, PPP leaders agreed to appoint Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister.

Following the fatal attack, Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting with other government officials, but stated that "no decision had been made on whether to delay the national elections.

"[10] Benazir Bhutto had "become an appealing solution" to United States officials frustrated with President Musharraf's failure to restore democracy to Pakistan, The New York Times said.

On 9 February, a suicide car bomb killed 27 and injured 37 attending a political rally for the Awami National Party in Charsadda.

[13] On 16 February, another suicide car bomb that killed 37 and injured 93 outside the residence of PPP candidate Riaz Shah in Parachinar.

This suggests that all stakeholders should agree on a set of rules as early as possible, in order to provide a level playing field for a fair general election.

"[2] Opposition parties, especially the religious Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal coalition, are opposed to Pakistan's role as ally of the United States in the War on Terrorism.

A part from this number of opposition parties called for the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf to ensure free and fair elections under a caretaker government.

[27] The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) campaigned on wide range of issues, including country's role in terrorism, nationalization, immigration and foreign policy.

During the election campaign, Benazir highlighted the success of computer literacy programme that was launched in 1993 and gas pipelines infrastructure that was initiated in 1995.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N's political campaign was led by Nisar Ali Khan, in the absence of Nawaz Sharif.

In a poll from the International Republican Institute conducted from 19 to 29 January, the PPP led with 50%, followed by PML-N with 22% and Musharraf's PML-Q with 14%.

[29] Unofficial returns 19 February 2008 showed huge wins for the opposition parties of former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and the slain Benazir Bhutto, one day after a pivotal vote that could threaten Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's political viability.

Following the election, seven independents joined the PPP, whilst three joined PML-N.[35] By-elections for 28 seats (23 provincial and 5 national) were delayed numerous times and were being contested, among others, by Nawaz Sharif (who initially stated he had withdrawn, but then appeared to be contesting the election nonetheless;[36] his brother Shehbaz Sharif will also run in the by-elections)[37] and Asif Ali Zardari.

[49] Due to a common mistrust on Pervez Musharraf, the PML(N) agreed to form a coalition government after succeeding with an agreement reached in March 2008.

After taking the oath and appointing a cabinet, Prime Minister Gillani worked toward consolidating the power to weakened Pervez Musharraf.

The PML(N) on the other hand consistently worked towards building efforts to lead a successful movement to impeach President Pervez Musharraf.

In 2009, Prime Minister Gillani approved the PML(N) departure and instead named a new cabinet with a new and more prudent leftist alliance consisting of MQM, ANP, JUI(F).