LAHORE, Pakistan - Center-right Pakistani politician Nawaz Sharif was set to return as his country's prime minister on Monday - his third time in the job - after voters defied deadly Taliban attacks to cast their ballots in record numbers. 

Sharif, who campaigned on restoring Pakistan’s weak economy, was in overnight meetings to form a new government, according to Sen. Pervez Rashid, a spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

Officials said turnout was over 60 percent, a record in a country where historically less than half of registered voters cast their ballots, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the national body tasked with holding elections.  

The election marked another watershed -- it was the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

While final election results had not been announced, preliminary results reported on local media appeared to give 63-year-old Sharif a resounding victory.

Sharif defeated telegenic former cricketer Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice party (PTI), who had been campaigning against older, more powerful parties like Sharif’s.  Khan was in a close fight for second place with the Pakistan People’s Party of president Asif Ali Zardari, which just ended its often-criticized rule in Pakistan after five years.

Khan, who was seriously injured in a fall on the eve of the elections, swore from his hospital bed that his party will form a strong opposition, while investigating alleged rigging.

Nevertheless, Fakhruddin Ebrahim, the country's chief election commissioner, congratulated the country on television for holding "historic and free" elections, though he did admit that there were irregularities in Karachi, Pakistan's largest and most violent city.

Protesters from different parties gathered in moderate numbers across the country, demanding an investigation by the election officials against poll rigging.  The Election Commission, in response, called a meeting for investigation rigging allegations for later Monday. 

Still, the mood in Pakistan seems upbeat, as the Karachi Stock Exchange just crossed record levels and breached the 20,000 point barrier.

Conciliatory tone
Sharif struck a conciliatory tone as results rolled in over the weekend.

"I appeal to all to come sit with me at the table so that this nation can get rid of this curse of power cuts, inflation and unemployment," Sharif said according to The Associated Press.

Sharif and his government will have their work cut out for them.  Pakistan suffers from a growing energy crisis, with some areas experiencing power outages for up to 18 hours a day. That has seriously hurt the economy, pushing growth below 4 percent a year.

Pakistan needs a growth rate of twice that to provide jobs for its expanding population of 180 million. They will also have to cope with spiraling violence.

The build up to the polls saw over a 100 people killed in militant attacks, and of Sharif's most urgent problems will be what to do about violent Islamic extremism throughout his country.  His party has been accused of being soft on radicals after not cracking down on violent groups in its stronghold of Punjab province.

The United States has pushed Pakistan for years to take stronger action against fighters whose who attack American troops across the border in Afghanistan.

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Once considered a protege of the country's powerful army, Sharif served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister in the 1990s before his relationship with the military deteriorated. He was ousted in a coup and replaced by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, and exiled to Saudi Arabia.

Known to be a religious conservative personally, Sharif's first term in office was marked by efforts to increase the role of Islam in government, including trying to introduce Shariah law through parliament.

Pakistan also became a nuclear state during his second term in office. Sharif also built a reputation for launching large-scale, economic initiatives to spur development, including power, transportation, and technology projects.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

• Obama congratulates Pakistan for 'milestone' moment after successful elections
• The ex-cricket star vs. the comeback kid: Who will be nuclear-armed Pakistan's next leader?
• 9 more killed as Taliban attacks target secular campaigns in Pakistan

The son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was kidnapped at gunpoint during an election rally on Thursday, officials said.

Ali Haider Gilani, whose father was prime minister from 2008 to 2012, was seized by several armed men in Multan in central Pakistan. The Gilanis are members of the liberal PPP party.

Punjab government official Rao Iftikhar Ahmad told The Associated Press that one of Gilani's guards was killed and five people were wounded in the attack. The figures could not immediately be confirmed by NBC News.

"One of the gunmen grabbed Haider who had blood splashed on his trousers," witness Shehryar Ali told Pakistani television broadcaster Geo News. 

An intelligence official said that authorities were hunting "four to five kidnappers in a black car."

Fawad Hussein / EPA, file

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is seen here in 2011. His son was kidnapped on Thursday.

It was not immediately known who abducted Gilani or why.  The Pakistani Taliban has vowed to disrupt Saturday's election.

Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said that candidates, party leaders and activists would be attacked by dozens of suicide bombers and other fighters.

The militants have warned people to stay away from polling stations on the day of the vote and warned government officials not to carry out election duties.

Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, has written a letter to the Election Commission, demanding better security for liberal parties.

Since April, the Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 70 people in attacks targeting three major political parties, preventing many of their most prominent candidates from openly campaigning, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The Taliban say they are targeting "secular" parties and that elections only "serve the interests of infidels and enemies of Islam," the news service said. Right-wing religious parties that have joined the election race have been largely left alone by the militants.

On Tuesday, former cricket star Imran Khan, who is now the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, was injured in a fall from a platform at an election rally.

Saturday's election will mark the first time in the country's 65-year history that a legislature has completed its term, paving the way for the possibility of a peaceful transition of power from one civilian government to the next.

NBC News' Mushtaq Yusufzai and Ian Johnston, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

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Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

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Related:

• Explosion kills at least 25 people at Islamist party election rally in Pakistan
• Prosecutor probing Pakistan ex-PM's assassination slain in 'targeted killing'
• Pakistani politician Imran Khan hurt in fall at political rally

Tomas Bravo / Reuters

Venezuelan presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores celebrate after the official results gave him a victory in the balloting, in Caracas on Sunday.

News Analysis 

CARACAS, Venezuela -- The late President Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly won Venezuela’s presidential election Sunday with just 50.7 percent of the vote, according to election board returns. 

The slim victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who won 49.1 percent of the vote, was a difference of just about 235,000 votes. 

Capriles has refused to accept the results, alleging incidences of fraud and voting intimidation at polling booths across the country. Instead of a concession speech, the popular 40-year-old governor demanded a recount. "We are talking about a small difference, a tiny difference," he said.  "We will not accept the results until all votes are counted, one by one." 

The Venezuelan government announced that Maduro would be formally proclaimed the winner by the election board at a ceremony and rally in Caracas on Monday afternoon -- despite Capriles' demands for a recount.

While Capriles has not called out for his supporters to take to the streets, a protracted election dispute would be difficult on the deeply divided country.

Whatever the final outcome, the next leader of Venezuela will inherit a country with the world's second largest oil reserves -- but also a nation plagued with problems including food shortages, inflation, corruption and crime. 

Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

Supporters of Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles react after the official results gave a victory to Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on Sunday.

Empty shelves
"You have to walk all over town from supermarket to supermarket to find what you need," said Olivia Nunez, standing in front of empty shelves at the Magdalena supermarket in Caracas’ Chacao neighborhood. 

Sugar, rice, coffee, milk, cooking oil, chicken and even soap and toilet paper are hard to come by at grocery stores. 

Lifelong residents of the middle-class neighborhood say shortages were unheard of until Chavez took office 14 years ago. When supplies do arrive, neighbors call each other to share the news and rush to stand in lines that sometimes make checkout a two-hour process.

The reasons for the shortages are many. Government measures to enforce price controls have discouraged domestic production. So have government expropriations. Many farm owners hesitate to invest in crops, fearing the fate of neighbors whose land was seized under a Chavez program that grants parcels to low-income families. 

Erika Angulo/ NBC News

This sign tells shoppers in a Caracas grocery store on Sunday that they are restricted to just 4 kilograms of rice per customer.

Adding to the shortages, suppliers of foreign goods say, is the administration's decision to scale back the number of dollars importers can buy. They complain they can't access the necessary dollars to pay manufacturers abroad. 

‘I'm terrified’
Crime is rampant, with kidnappings, robberies and home invasions skyrocketing over the last decade. 

The U.S. State Department has warned travelers that crime in the country is "pervasive, both in the capital, Caracas, and the interior." Violent crimes, including murder, are also up.  Statistics gathered by the nongovernment group Venezuelan Violence Observatory show that for every 100,000 Caracas residents there are 122 murders per year. For comparison, the rate in New York City is 5.6 murders per 100,000 residents. 

Valeria Ardenko said she stopped going out after 8 p.m. after a nephew was mugged at gunpoint. "I used to love to go to the theater, but now I'm terrified," said the 71-year-old grandmother.  

Home invaders who never leave are another risk many Venezuelans face. In some instances, squatters move in while residents are away on vacation. Some 100 activists earlier this month seized dozens of condos and empty lots in Caracas. Police managed to turn back about 16 occupiers, but others remained. 

"We have a government that allows those who have been living in a hut to take over your home because they feel like it. And no one does anything to stop them," said homeowner Aide Solotucha. 

Chavez promoted a process of expropriation of lands and homes deemed unoccupied as a way to deal with the country's home shortage while his administration built public housing.

Still united by oil
Caracas-Washington relations soured during the Chavez regime, with the Venezuelan president frequently accusing the U.S. of interference, even alleging an assassination plot against him. Chavez simultaneously strengthened relations with Iran and Russia, ignoring the concerns of U.S. officials.  And both countries have expelled each other's diplomats.  

But there is still one tie that unites them: oil. 

"The oil trade relationship between Venezuela and the United States has been the source of stability between the two countries during what has been, without question, really rough political and diplomatic times," said Sarah Ladislaw of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 

Most energy expert say getting along with whoever ends up being sworn in as this OPEC country's leader will be to the advantage of the U.S. 

Related:

Venezuela divided: Recount demanded after razor thin victory by Chavez successor

Dramatic exit: Heads of state gather for Chavez's funeral

Chavez's last words: 'Please don't let me die,' general says

Full Venezuela coverage from NBC News

Abedin Taherkenareh / EPA

Former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, center, arrives at a conference in Tehran on Thursday where he announced his candidacy for the June presidential election. Rowhani is considered a moderate who could work with the West.

Hassan Rowhani, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, announced on Thursday he would run for president - becoming the most moderate contender so far to bid to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June election dominated by conservatives.

The 64-year-old was head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council under presidents Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, considered a master of realpolitik rather than an ideologue, and Mohammad Khatami, who pushed for wide-ranging social and political reforms.

Rowhani, a Muslim cleric, presided over talks with Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities between 2003 and 2005.

He resigned after Ahmadinejad took office in August that year. The nuclear work was resumed and Rowhani was derided for being too accommodating in negotiations.

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At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

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During Ahmadinejad's two terms in office, tensions with the West over Iran's nuclear program have worsened, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions on its oil and banks over suspicions Tehran is seeking atomic arms, which it denies.

"We need a new management for the country but not based on quarrelling, inconsistency and eroding domestic capacity, but through unity, consensus and attracting honest and efficient people," Rowhani told a gathering of supporters on Thursday, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.

A former Western ambassador to Iran who had dealings with Rowhani during the Khatami administration described him as "approachable and no-nonsense," likely to be "a calm, orthodox, efficient and straightforward servant ... and less a charismatic or an independent figure."

With nuclear policy directed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rather than the president, the election is not likely to produce any tangible policy shift there.

"My government will be one of prudence and hope and my message is about saving the economy, reviving ethics and interaction with the world," Rowhani said in a critique of Ahmadinejad's economic record.

Hooman Majd, a New York-based Iranian-American journalist and author, said Rowhani -- head of an Iranian think-tank, the Center for Strategic Research -- might attract some voters looking for change, without being radical enough to risk being banned from the election.

"Rowhani has been a loyal soldier of Khamenei and is not considered a threat to the system. I think it would be too much for the Guardian Council to disqualify someone like that," Majd said.

Khamenei's close advisers plan to put forward their own candidate, hoping to minimize the chances of the next president mounting challenges to the leader's authority, as they accuse Ahmadinejad of doing, especially during his second term.

Related:

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Diplomat: Iran, West still 'a long way apart' 

CARACAS - Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Sunday he will challenge the late Hugo Chavez's preferred
successor for the presidency of the South American OPEC nation next month, setting the stage for a bitter campaign.

Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor, will face election favorite and acting President Nicolas Maduro. The pair have until Monday to register their candidacies for the April 14 vote.

The election will decide whether Chavez's self-styled socialist and nationalist revolution will live on in the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves.

Former vice president Maduro, 50, a hulking one-time bus driver and union leader turned politician who echoes Chavez's anti-imperialist rhetoric, is seen winning the election comfortably, according to two recent polls.

Maduro pushed for a snap election to cash in on a wave of empathy triggered by Chavez's death last Tuesday at age 58 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was sworn in as acting president on Friday to the fury of Capriles.

Capriles, the centrist Miranda state governor who often wears a baseball cap and tennis shoes, lost to Chavez in October. But he won 44 percent of the vote - the strongest showing by the opposition against Chavez.

Capriles has accused the government and Supreme Court of fraud for letting Maduro campaign without stepping down.

Although the ruling Socialist Party is favored to win, opposition supporters are trying to raise their spirits.

"There's no reason to think that the opposition is condemned to defeat," Teodoro Petkoff, an anti-government newspaper editor, said on his Sunday talk show.

Maduro has vowed to carry on where Chavez left off and ratify his policy platform. He acknowledged he has big shoes to fill.

"I am not Chavez - speaking strictly in terms of the intelligence, charisma, historical force, leadership capacity and spiritual grandeur of our comandante," he told a crowd on Saturday.

Chavez was immensely popular among Venezuela's poor for funneling vast oil wealth into social programs and handouts.

The heavy government spending, along with currency devaluations, has contributed to annual inflation of more than 20 percent, hurting consumers.

"Maduro's success will depend on if he can fix the economy and its distortions," said a former high-level official in the Chavez government
who declined to be named. "If he does that, he could emerge as a strong leader instead of one who is an heir."

DIFFICULT RACE

Maduro's first official meeting on Saturday was with officials from China, who Chavez courted to provide an alternative to investment that traditionally came from the United States.

He has adopted his mentor's touch for the theatrical, accusing imperialists, often a Chavez euphemism for the United States, of killing the charismatic but divisive leader by infecting him with cancer.

Emotional tributes were paid at a religious service at the military academy housing Chavez's casket on Sunday, where people continued to gather.

Chavez railed against the wealthy and scared investors with nationalizations. In heavily polarized Venezuela some in the well-to-do class toasted his death with champagne.

Venezuela's opposition coalition backed Capriles as its candidate on Saturday. Capriles says, if elected, he would copy Brazil's "modern left" model of economic and social policies.

Given the state resources at Maduro's disposal and the limited time for campaigning, Capriles faces an uphill battle.

"If the opposition runs, they'll lose. If they don't run, they lose even more!" tweeted Andres Izarra, who served as information minister under Chavez.

The opposition rank-and-file is heavily demoralized after losing last year's presidential race and getting hammered in gubernatorial elections in December, stoking internal party divisions.

"There's no doubt that it's an uphill race for Capriles," local political analyst Luis Vicente Leon said. "The trouble is that given the
race is so close to Chavez's death, emotions get inflamed and the candidate probably continues to be Chavez rather than Maduro."

"The big challenge for Capriles is not to campaign against Chavez but to try to take the fight to Maduro ... trying to show the huge gap (with Chavez) and relate it to the daily problems Venezuelans face."

Simon Maina / AFP - Getty Images file

Kenya's Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta singing the national anthem during an electoral rally on March 2, 2013 in Nairobi on the last day of campaigning.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya's election commission has announced final vote tallies from the country's presidential vote, and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta appears to have won with 50.03 percent of the vote.

Getting over the 50 percent mark was crucial to avoid a run-off with Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Odinga's camp has indicated legal challenges could be filed.

The election commission planned a formal announcement of the winner at 11 a.m. Kenya time (3 a.m. ET) Saturday.

A win by Kenyatta could greatly affect Kenya's relations with the West because the candidate faces charges at the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 post-election violence.

Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images

Supporters cheer comedian-turned-political agitator, Beppe Grillo, as he arrives for his final rally in Rome's Piazza San Giovanni on Friday. Italians are fed up, and no one is tapping that emotional vein better than comic-turned-political agitator Grillo and his anti-establishment 5 Star Movement.

 
ROME - Italians began voting on Sunday in one of the most closely watched elections in years, with markets nervous about whether it will produce a strong government to pull Italy out of recession and help resolve the euro zone debt crisis. 

A huge final rally by anti-establishment-comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo on Friday before a campaigning ban kicked in has highlighted public anger at traditional parties and added to uncertainty about the election outcome. 

Voters started casting their ballots at 7 a.m. (1 a.m. ET). Polling booths will remain open until 9 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) on Sunday and between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. (midnight and 10 a.m. ET) on Monday. Exit polls will come out soon after voting ends and official results are expected by early Tuesday. 

Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images

Comedian-turned-political agitator, Beppe Grillo, speaks during his final rally in Rome's Piazza San Giovanni on Friday.

The election is being followed closely by financial markets with memories still fresh of the potentially catastrophic debt crisis that brought technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti to power more than a year ago. 

Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, is stuck in deep recession, struggling under a public debt burden second only to Greece's in the 17-member currency bloc and with a public weary of more than a year of harsh austerity policies. 

Economic austerity has fueled anger among Italians grappling with rising unemployment and shrinking disposable incomes, encouraging many to turn to Grillo, who has tapped into a national mood of disenchantment. 

Final polls published two weeks ago showed center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani with a 5-point lead, but analysts disagree about whether he will be able to form a stable majority that can push though the economic reforms Italy needs. 

Bersani is now thought to be just a few points ahead of center-right rival Silvio Berlusconi, the four-times prime minister who has promised tax refunds and staged a media blitz in an attempt to win back voters. 

Berlusconi criticism 
Berlusconi hogged the headlines on Sunday after he broke the campaign silence the previous evening attack magistrates, saying they were "more dangerous than the Sicilian mafia" and had invented allegations he held sex parties to discredit him. 

The 76-year-old billionaire, who faces several trials on charges ranging from fraud to sex with an underage prostitute, was criticized by his election rivals for making the comments after the campaigning ban had come into force. 

Ciro De Luca / Reuters

Silvio Berlusconi, leader of People of Freedom party, appears on a screen during his political rally in Naples Friday.

While the center left is still expected to gain control of the lower house, thanks to rules that guarantee a strong majority to whichever party wins the most votes nationally, a much closer battle will be fought in the Senate, which any government also needs to control to be able to pass laws. 

Seats in the upper house are awarded on a region-by-region basis, meaning that support in key regions can decisively influence the overall result. 

Pollsters still believe the most likely outcome is a center-left government headed by Bersani and possibly backed by Monti, who is leading a centrist coalition. 

But strong campaigning by Berlusconi and the fiery Grillo, who has drawn tens of thousands to his election rallies, have thrown the election wide open, causing concern that there may be no clear winner. 

Surveys have shown up to 5 million voters are expected to make up their minds at the last minute, adding to uncertainty. 

Italy's Interior Ministry urged some 47 million eligible voters to not let bad weather forecasts put them off, and said it was prepared to handle snowy conditions in some northern regions to ensure everyone had a chance to vote. 

Related: 

Polls: Cigar-chomping former communist will be Italy's next leader

Pope's resignation could thwart Berlusconi comeback

Italy's comeback kid Berlusconi defends Mussolini