ISLAMABAD, May 12: The winner of historic elections, Nawaz Sharif, faces a host of problems, including faltering economic growth, worsening energy shortages and continued attacks by militants.

FALTERING ECONOMY: The economy has grown at less than 4 per cent a year under the most recent government led by the PPP.

That is much lower than the rates during the previous administration, which at times hovered near 7pc. Under the most recent government, inflation spiked, reaching an annualised rate of around 25pc in some months.

However, the inflation rate has fallen and averaged around 11pc last year.

ENERGY SHORTAGES: Electricity shortages nearly doubled under the PPP compared with the previous administration.

Some places in the country suffer blackouts for up to 18 hours a day during summer months.

The country also has experienced increased shortages of natural gas, which were felt acutely during the winter because many people rely on natural gas to heat their homes as well as cook.

Spending on energy subsidies and failing public enterprises has helped sap the government’s funds, which are much lower than they should be because of ineffective tax collection.

The combination of these factors means the government will likely have to seek yet another unpopular bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

TALIBAN ATTACKS: The military has launched several operations against the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest tribal region along the Afghan border during the past five years.

Analysts say the operations and US drone attacks against militants in the tribal region have helped produce a significant decline in overall levels of violence in 2011 and 2012.

But the Taliban have remained a potent threat, including during the election campaign.

The group carried out near-daily attacks against election candidates and offices that killed more than 130 people.

The militants mostly targeted liberal secular parties that supported operations against the Taliban. Sectarian violence by radical militants against minority Shias also has significantly worsened in recent months.

“(Sharif) needs to solve the issue of terrorism and other problems crippling the economy. If he delivers quickly, fair enough, if not then he will face crisis and criticism,” pundit Hasan Askari said.

The election failed to realise the hopes of many that the hold of patronage-based parties would end after years of misrule and corruption.

Mr Sharif has said the army, which has ruled the country for more than half of its turbulent 66-year history, should stay out of politics.

But he will have to work with generals, who set foreign and security policy and will manage the country’s thorny relationship with the United States as Nato troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014.

Mr Sharif also believes Pakistan should reconsider its support for the US war on militancy.

Mr Sharif, who advocates free-market economics, is likely to pursue privatisation and deregulation to revive flagging growth.

The PML-N leader has said he could do business with the IMF, meaning he may be open to reforms like an easing of subsidies and a widening of the country’s tiny tax base to secure billions of dollars from the global lender.

RELATIONS WITH ARMY: Mr Sharif’s last term as prime minister came to an abrupt and ignominious end in 1999 when he was deposed in a coup led by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

He was sentenced to life in prison by a military court before being allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Political analyst A.H. Nayer said talk of a potential clash between Mr Sharif and the military was overblown. “I think the army will have to back the government, they have no choice,” he said.

“I think Sharif’s government will come out with an impression that it is not against the army as an organisation — he was against only one general who staged a coup.”

The 63-year-old’s unprecedented third term as prime minister results from widespread unhappiness with the PPP government, but also from the performance of the PML-N in Punjab.

During two tenures in the 1990s the PML-N built the country’s only motorway. During its rule of Punjab over the past five years it created new roads and bridges for Lahore and a city metro-bus system — the first properurban public transport system in the country. It has also targeted young voters with scholarships and free laptops.

Mr Sharif went into the election promising to transform the economy, end corruption in state-owned enterprises, build a motorway from Lahore to Karachi and launch a bullet train. — Agencies