Candidates loyal to imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan have won a shock victory in Pakistan’s election, defying a military-backed campaign of arrests and harassment to mount an unexpected bid for power in the country of 240mn.
Independent candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party were on Friday set to be the largest group in parliament, but fell short of a majority and still looked likely to be blocked from government by the nation’s powerful military and establishment parties.
With counting almost over on Friday night, independent candidates — made up overwhelmingly of PTI candidates barred from running under the party symbol — had won 97 seats, according to Pakistan’s Election Commission. The Pakistan Muslim League-N party of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, previously favourite to emerge as the largest party, had won 66 seats.
The Pakistan People’s party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had 51 seats. Despite the stunning success of candidates loyal to Khan, Sharif claimed victory in Thursday’s election and said the PML-N would approach the PPP and others to form a ruling coalition. “We do not seek conflict,” he told supporters in Lahore, calling on political leaders to together “propel Pakistan into the 21st century”.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.