- Imran Khan loyalists win Pakistan election despite hurdles.
- Independent candidates backed by Khan’s party set to lead but face government formation challenges.
Candidates aligned with incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan have achieved a surprising triumph in Pakistan’s election, overcoming a military-backed campaign of arrests and intimidation to launch an unforeseen bid for power in the nation of 240 million.
Independent candidates supported by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party were poised to emerge as the largest group in parliament on Friday, falling short of a majority but still facing potential obstruction from the country’s influential military and establishment parties.
With nearly complete vote counting on Friday night, independent candidates—primarily comprising PTI nominees barred from contesting under the party symbol—secured 97 seats, according to Pakistan’s Election Commission. The Pakistan Muslim League-N party of thrice-former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, previously anticipated to lead as the largest party, secured 66 seats, while the Pakistan People’s Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, secured 51 seats.
Despite the remarkable success of Khan-affiliated candidates, Sharif claimed victory in Thursday’s election, stating that the PML-N would seek cooperation from the PPP and others to establish a ruling coalition.
Independent candidates – several with affiliations to Imran Khan’s restricted PTI party have secured the highest number of seats thus far.
A total of 265 seats were contested after voting in one constituency was postponed due to the assassination of a candidate last week. An additional 70 parliamentary seats are chosen indirectly.
“There was an unprecedented turnout,” remarked Raoof Hasan, a senior PTI member, to journalists on Friday. “The former prime minister’s opponents misread Khan’s resilience, his resolve, his determination… They underestimated his popularity.”
Even Mushahid Hussain, a senator for PML-N, acknowledged on social media platform X early on Friday that the outcome seemed to be “the biggest election upset in Pakistan’s political history.”
With no clear majority, the new parliament could swiftly descend into acrimonious and destabilizing internal conflicts.
The results, following a widely criticized shutdown of mobile networks on polling day, were delayed for hours. The PTI alleged that this facilitated officials’ rigging of the count and reduction of its seat count. The party has pledged to contest the results in court and seek to form a majority government.
Khan, a populist former cricket star, has been incarcerated on corruption charges since last year and was barred from contesting the election. Thousands of PTI supporters have been detained, and the party’s candidates were largely unable to campaign openly.
Inflation in Pakistan surged to nearly 30 percent in December, while a $3 billion IMF support package that helped the country avoid default last year is set to expire in April, necessitating new funds for the next government, which will be obliged to implement painful economic reforms in exchange.
Sharif, Khan’s long-standing adversary, returned to Pakistan last year following four years of self-imposed exile following corruption allegations. Last month, the Supreme Court overturned a lifelong ban on him serving in government.
Many voters, particularly young people enticed by Khan’s pledges for a “new Pakistan,” expressed dismay at the prospect of another term under the Sharif dynasty—Nawaz’s brother Shehbaz served as prime minister last year.
“Ninety per cent of young people are with Imran Khan, but they’re scared,” said Sanya Amir, a 23-year-old student, outside a polling booth in Islamabad. “We’ve tried Nawaz Sharif three times. It’s time for Pakistan to try out something new.”
