Pakistani voters on Friday have been anxiously awaiting the ultimate outcomes of a nationwide election that has shocked many within the nation by denying Pakistan’s highly effective army a broadly anticipated landslide victory for its most popular celebration.
That celebration, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, remained the front-runner as preliminary totals trickled in a day after the voting. However the extended uncertainty made clear that the army, lengthy the guiding hand in Pakistani politics, had failed in its heavy-handed effort to intestine a rival celebration affiliated with one other former prime minister, Imran Khan.
In Punjab, the nation’s most populous province, which accounts for greater than half of the seats in Parliament, many candidates in Mr. Sharif’s celebration, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or P.M.L.N., have been neck and neck with these within the celebration of Mr. Khan, a preferred determine who has been jailed for months.
The tight races might represent as near an upset as potential in a rustic the place the army is the last word authority. They mirrored the deep, loyal base of help that Mr. Khan has cultivated since he was ousted by Parliament in 2022, in addition to his distinctive potential to outmaneuver the army’s playbook for sidelining politicians who’ve fallen out of its favor.
Whereas Pakistan’s election fee had initially stated that the outcomes could be launched early Friday morning, by midday officers had introduced totals for less than round 60 of the 266 seats within the Nationwide Meeting, or decrease home of Parliament.
The Inside Ministry attributed the delay to a “lack of connectivity” associated to safety precautions. However leaders and supporters of Mr. Khan’s celebration, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., expressed issues that the delay might be an indication of tampering by the army.
“Any attempt to change the results overnight will be thwarted and not accepted at any cost by the people of Pakistan or the local and international observers and media,” Gohar Ali Khan, the chairman of P.T.I., said on the platform X.
Voting on Thursday was marred by a suspension of mobile phone service throughout the nation. The Inside Ministry attributed the outages to safety issues, whereas analysts stated they have been almost definitely an try and hinder mobilization of P.T.I. supporters.
It got here after a monthslong army marketing campaign to neutralize Mr. Khan and his celebration. P.T.I. leaders and supporters have been arrested in droves. The celebration was barred from utilizing its iconic cricket bat image to determine its candidates on the poll, a vital visible cue for voters in a rustic with excessive illiteracy charges.
Mr. Khan, a former cricket star turned populist politician, was arrested in August and issued three jail phrases for quite a lot of offenses simply days earlier than the vote. He has been barred from holding public office for a decade.
Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting.
