Candidates supported by Imran take the lead : Pakistan Polls

The early results of the Pakistan election show candidates affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) taking a narrow lead though PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif claimed victory in the polls.

Of the 221 National Assembly results announced by the election oversight body by Friday night, candidates backed by Imran Khan’s PTI won 90 seats. The Pakistan Muslim League party of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif bagged 62 seats, reports AP.

With the results for 45 more seats still to come and a third major party in the mix, it was too soon for any party to declare victory.

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday claimed victory in national elections, saying that his political party has emerged as the largest in the vote and will discuss forming a coalition government, reports Reuters.

Sharif did not disclose how many seats his party had won and counting was still underway in the last few of the 265 seats that went to the polls.

The latest count published by the election panel showed his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) winning 61 seats, much below the 133 mark needed to stake claim to form a government.

Sharif said his party alone does not have the seats needed but his deputies will meet leaders of other parties later in the day, including former president Asif Ali Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party, to discuss forming a coalition government.

A former cricket star turned Islamist politician with a significant grassroots following, Khan was disqualified from running in Thursday’s election because of criminal convictions against him. He contends his sentences and a slew of legal cases pending against him were politically motivated.

His party’s candidates were forced to run as independents after they were barred from using the party symbol — a cricket bat — to help illiterate voters find them on ballots.

But the lack of a majority did not stop Sharif’s relatives and loyalists from appearing on a balcony at the party headquarters, waving to the crowds below. People threw rose petals on Sharif’s car as he arrived to address party workers.

PTI chairman Gohar Khan told Pakistani news channel Geo that the party’s own count shows it securing a total of 150 seats, enough to form a government, though 169 seats are required for a majority in the 336-seat National Assembly, or lower house of parliament.

Observers had expected the Pakistan Muslim League to prevail and put Sharif on track to another term as prime minister due to the disadvantages faced by Khan’s party. Along with Khan being in prison and accruing more criminal convictions, election officials and police blocked his party from holding rallies and opening campaign offices, and its online events were blocked.