Imran Khan’s remarkable victory in Pakistan’s national election has defied conventional political predictions in a country where leaders who clash with the influential military seldom achieve electoral triumph.
Supporters of Mr. Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister, are thrilled by the success of candidates aligned with his party, who emerged as the winners in last week’s vote, but are also furious about what they perceive as blatant rigging and the potential for other parties to take control of the government.
The uncertainty surrounding Pakistan’s political system is the current focus of attention.
What’s next for the government?
Mr. Khan’s supporters are contesting the results of numerous races in the country’s courts, and there is mounting pressure on Pakistan’s Election Commission to acknowledge the widely reported irregularities in the vote counting.
Backers of Mr. Khan have announced plans to hold peaceful protests outside election commission offices in constituencies where they believe rigging occurred. Protests have already broken out in several parts of the country, particularly in the volatile southwestern Baluchistan Province.
As of midday Sunday, the Election Commission had not finalized the results from Thursday’s vote. Preliminary counts showed victories for 92 independents (primarily supporters of Mr. Khan, whose party was barred from running), with 77 seats going to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and 54 going to the third major party, the Pakistan People’s Party, or P.P.P.
To form a majority government, a party must have at least 169 seats in the 336-seat National Assembly. The Pakistani Constitution mandates that the National Assembly, or lower house of Parliament, convene within 21 days of an election to elect its leadership and subsequently the prime minister.
With candidates associated with Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., short of a majority in the preliminary count, intense jockeying is underway to form a government.
Mr. Sharif’s party, P.M.L.N., is exploring an option to take control through a coalition with the P.P.P. and a smaller party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which secured 17 seats. In another possible path to a P.M.L.N. government, Mr. Sharif is seeking to attract enough independent candidates so his conservative party would not need to align with the P.P.P., which leans left.
Although Mr. Sharif, a three-time prime minister, is leading his party’s negotiations, it is not certain who would lead any coalition opposing the populist Mr. Khan, who was prohibited from running in the election.
Mr. Sharif’s brother, Shehbaz Sharif, is a likely candidate for prime minister, having led a similar coalition after Mr. Khan’s ouster in April 2022. Shehbaz Sharif is seen as more deferential to the military than is Nawaz, who clashed with the generals during his time in office. Nawaz Sharif won a seat in Thursday’s vote, but the result has been…
2024-02-11 06:38:08
Article from www.nytimes.com