Pakistan election results: Strong show by Independents linked to jailed Imran Khan's PTI. Top updates

Pakistan media reported victories by independents backed by the PTI party after jailed Imran Khan was disqualified from contesting the elections.

Published on: Feb 9, 2024, 11:00:04 IST

By HT News Desk

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Independent candidates linked to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were outperforming expectations on Friday in early tallies from the Pakistan election 2024, after a long delay in results added to accusations of poll rigging and manipulations.

Pakistani politician Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. (AP file) (AP)

Imran Khan's PTI party was barred from contesting Thursday's election as a bloc, but unofficial tallies by local TV channels showed independent candidates – including dozens anointed by his party – leading in most constituencies.

A total of 266 are decided through direct voting on election day, while 70 reserved seats are allotted according to the strength of each party in Parliament. In this year’s election, voting in one seat was postponed due to the death of a candidate. If no party wins an outright majority, the one with the biggest share of the seats can form a coalition government.

Top updates on Pakistan election results 2024

The results of Pakistan's elections have been delayed by connectivity issues on Friday, a day after the vote that was marred by sporadic violence, a mobile phone service shutdown and the sidelining of former Imran Khan and his party.
Local media reported victories by independents backed by the PTI party after jailed Imran Khan was disqualified from contesting the vote because of criminal convictions he contends were politically motivated.
By 9:00am local time – over 16 hours after polling stations closed – the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced just 13 National Assembly results.
Five had gone to independent candidates linked to PTI, four to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and four to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
PTI candidates ran as independents after the Supreme Court and Election Commission said they couldn’t use the party symbol — a ‘cricket bat’.
Several Pakistani news channels reported that PTI-backed independent candidates were giving the other big parties, led by three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif and political dynasty scion Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, a run for their money by striding ahead in dozens of constituencies.
Senator Mushahid Hussain, a member of Sharif's party, called the media tallies “probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan’s political history” in the last 50 years.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who returned to the country last October after four years of self-imposed exile abroad to avoid serving prison sentences, struck a confident and defiant note on polling day, brushing off suggestions his Pakistan Muslim League party might not win an outright majority in Parliament. But the mood outside his headquarters was different by nightfall, with sparse crowds and no festivities.

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HT News Desk
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