Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, announced on Friday his victory in the general elections, stating that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) garnered the highest number of votes and that discussions regarding forming a coalition government would take place, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister and current prisoner Imran Khan also declared his victory in the elections through an audio-visual message published using artificial intelligence on his account on the "X" platform.
In his message, typically delivered orally by his lawyers, Khan rejected Sharif's earlier claim of winning the elections and urged his supporters to celebrate the victory, which he attributed to what he described as a campaign of repression against his party.
Earlier on Friday, supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan were slightly leading in the election results after counting more than half of the constituencies. Preliminary official results from the legislative elections indicated that independent candidates aligned with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party secured 49 seats after votes were counted in 136 out of 266 constituencies, compared to 42 for the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and 34 for the Pakistan People's Party, according to AFP.
The elections were held to compete for 265 seats in the National Assembly, with any political party needing 133 seats to ensure a slim majority. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), led by the former Prime Minister, may form a coalition government with independent candidates, as reported by Pakistan's Geo News network, citing Ishaq Dar, Sharif's aide, on Friday. Dar stated, "I am confident that we will form a government," adding that his party would concede if another party won outright.
On Thursday, Pakistan held legislative elections, with the vote counting beginning in the evening. Approximately 128 million registered voters were called to the polls to select 336 members for the federal parliament and to renew regional councils. Surveys predicted low voter turnout after a lackluster campaign overshadowed by the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and conflicts between his PTI party and the military establishment.
Analysts expect the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to win the majority of seats, noting that its founder, Nawaz Sharif, aged 74, has secured the approval of the military generals. Over 650,000 military personnel, paramilitary forces, and police were deployed to ensure security during Thursday's elections, especially following two bombings on Wednesday which killed 28 people and injured more than 30 outside candidate offices in southwest Pakistan, claimed by the Islamic State just hours later.
