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The Election Commission has announced that the tally for Pakistan’s general elections is complete, with Independent candidates, many of whom were supported by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, winning over 100 out of 264 seats.
The unaffiliated candidates, many of whom are associated with Mr. Khan, secured 101 seats. This was followed by the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, which won 75 seats and is now the largest party in parliament.
According to the election commission’s website, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has emerged victorious with 53 seats after the completion of vote counting.
The Express Tribune reports that three recently elected independent candidates have declared their intent to join Mr. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.
A minimum of 133 seats is required for a simple majority in a party.
On Saturday, Mr Khan urged his supporters to peacefully demonstrate against the delay in declaring the election results.
The election commission of Pakistan published the results over 60 hours after the national elections on Thursday had ended.
It is still unknown which party will establish the government.
In the upcoming 2024 Pakistan election, a coalition agreement has been reached between the PML-N and PPP parties, signaling their intention to govern together.
Both Mr. Khan and Mr. Sharif have declared themselves winners while votes were still being counted on Saturday, prompting multiple global leaders to express apprehensions about Pakistan’s electoral system.
The US Department of State, the British foreign ministry, and the EU each expressed concerns and called for an investigation into the reported irregularities in the election.
With Mr Khan jailed ahead of the election, the EU observed in a statement that there was a “lack of a level playing field” due to “the inability of some political actors to contest the elections”.
Using artificial intelligence, the imprisoned ex-prime minister sent out an audio-visual message urging his followers to rejoice in their victory, achieved despite what he views as a suppression of his political party.
During a hasty celebration, Mr. Sharif declared himself the winner of the election on Saturday.
According to a close associate of the ex-cricket player and current politician, Mr. Khan’s supported candidates will now be competing without a political party. This individual also revealed to Reuters that a new banner will be revealed, potentially allowing independent candidates to join.
On Saturday, Zulfi Bukhari stated that we are not worried about independents leaving, as they have persevered through 18 months of hardship and mistreatment.
According to Geo TV, Mr. Sharif is also creating an alliance with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the leader of PPP and son of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated.
Source: independent.co.uk
