Independent candidates linked to former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan surprised in Pakistan's elections by winning a majority of seats in the National Assembly. With 22 seats still to be claimed, according to the election commission, Khan's party's allies, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), got 98 seats, followed current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party, with 69, and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), with 51. The electoral process is the subject of complaints about the time taken to count the votes and accusations of rigging.
Journalist @Ali_Mustafa describes the electoral fraud that unfolded in Pakistan in the early hours of Friday morning as a "heist".
He related how numbers changed on television in front of viewers' eyes as leads of 100,000 votes were converted to losses for PTI backed… pic.twitter.com/dUa7wiwAfJ
— PTI (@PTIofficial) February 10, 2024
Polls projected the current prime minister as the favorite
The polls forecast Sharif's party as the favorite, which can no longer win victory even if it obtains the 22 seats still up for grabs. Likewise, none of the three major Pakistani parties will obtain the 169 seats necessary to have a majority in Parliament, and therefore inter-party negotiations will determine the next leader of the government.
However, the PTI claims the election was a historic "fraud," claiming that the election commission manipulated 100,000 votes to favor Sharif's party. This has caused thousands of people to gather in front of the election commission's headquarters to protest the alleged manipulation of results while tension rises throughout the country.
#PAKWatch🇵🇰: Storm clouds are gathering.
Thousands have gathered outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s offices in Karachi to protest the manipulation of results.
PAKISTAN’S ELECTION = A FARCE.pic.twitter.com/BT2KfnLdA0
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 10, 2024
