--- description: The build-up to Pakistan’s elections, which will be held May 11, has been clouded by a disturbing streak of violence. Italian photographer Massimo Berruti has been documenting the frontrunners on the final days of their campaigns. title: On Pakistan’s Election Trail: Photographs by Massimo Berruti image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa838fb776c5d4b8/6987a52406f2c1886c3368b9/berr19558-2013nb16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # On Pakistan's Election Trail: Photographs by Massimo Berruti by [Ishaan Tharoor](/author/ishaan-tharoor/) ## Ishaan Tharoor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2013 11:45 AM CUT  May 3, 2013\. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, or PTI) chairman Imran Khan speaks to supporters Abbotabad, Pakistan. May 3, 2013\. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, or PTI) chairman Imran Khan speaks to supporters Abbotabad, Pakistan.Massimo Berruti—Agence VU by [Ishaan Tharoor](/author/ishaan-tharoor/) ## Ishaan Tharoor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 9, 2013 11:45 AM CUT The build-up to Pakistan’s elections, which will be held May 11, has been clouded by a disturbing streak of violence. Suicide bombers, militants and gunmen have attacked rallies and assassinated candidates. Some of Pakistan’s leading secular political parties, including the incumbent ruling PPP, have even eschewed campaigning in public because of the alarming threat to their security. The contest for governance, then, has become a battle between two more religiously-inclined heavyweights — former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. Of the duo, Khan’s story is far more interesting. Not long ago, he was known simply as a handsome star athlete with an alleged “playboy” lifestyle. But his subsequent entrance into Pakistani politics as a pious outsider keen to clean up the corrupt status quo galvanized much of the country’s youth and urban middle class. He has been staging dozens of rallies across Pakistan — a series of which are documented here by Italian photographer Massimo Berruti. On May 7, at a rally in Lahore, Khan was being hoisted onto stage on a forklift when a press of bodies sent him sprawling fifteen feet head-first to the ground. His injuries include three fractured vertebrae, but he is expected to make a full recovery — and may well even go on to win an electoral outcome few thought possible only months ago. --- [**_Massimo Berruti_**](http://www.agencevu.com/photographers/photographer.php?id=238 "undefined") _is a photographer based in Paris and Rome, represented by Agence VU. In 2010, Berruti was awarded the Carmignac Gestion Prize_ [_for his work from Pakistan_](http://lightbox.time.com/2011/11/18/lashkars-in-pakistan-by-massimo-berruti/#1 "undefined")_._ **_Ishaan Tharoor_** _is a staff writer at TIME and co-editor of TIME World._ ---  May 3, 2013\. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, or PTI) chairman Imran Khan speaks to supporters Abbotabad, Pakistan. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 4, 2013\. The funeral for Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, the Federal Investigation Agency's special prosecutor in Benazir Bhutto's murder case, in his native town of Koth Sawarian. Ali was assassinated on May 3 while heading to a hearing at the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi for the Bhutto case. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 3, 2013\. People cross security lines after PTI chairman Imran Khan left an election rally in Abbotabad. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 2, 2013\. Posters on a wall in Gujranwala. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 1, 2013\. Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) president Mian Nawaz Sharif gives a public talk at an election rally in Sargodha. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 5, 2013\. Supporters of Imran Khan in Islamabad. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  April 30, 2013\. People attend an election rally in Kirpa, a suburb of Islamabad, for Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the former PML-N opposition leader in the National Assembly. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  (Left) May 4, 2013\. Defaced poster of former president General Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad. On April 30, Musharraf was banned by the Peshawar High Court from taking part in political elections in Pakistan for life. (Right) May 6, 2013\. Poster of PTI chairman Imran Khan in Sialkot. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 3, 2013\. Imran Khan before his speech to supporters in Abbotabad. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 6, 2013\. Children crowd around the stage where Imran Khan is speaking at an election rally in Sialkot. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 3, 2013\. The car of Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali after his assassination in Islamabad. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  April 30, 2013\. A public election rally held in Kirpa, a suburb of Islamabad, for Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 6, 2013\. Supporters of Imran Khan leave a rally at Jinna Cricket Stadium in Sialkot. Massimo Berruti—Agence VU  May 6, 2013\. Supporters of Imran Khan listen to his speech in Jinna cricket stadium in Sialkot. 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