Candidates backed by Khan’s PTI secure most seats but rival Nawaz Sharif seeks to form coalition

Politicians allied with the former prime minister Imran Khan’s party have defied a military-led crackdown and alleged widespread rigging to win the most seats in Pakistan’s election, but opponent Nawaz Sharif claimed victory and said he would form a coalition government.

Candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by Khan who is now serving sentences of more than a decade in jail, claimed a stunning victory after Thursday’s polls, defying all expectations that Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, and his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) would win an easy majority.

Sharif was seen to have the backing of Pakistan’s military, which has long been the country’s political power broker and has a history of meddling in its elections.

Voters across the country, however, appear to have come out in unprecedented numbers to support PTI and Khan. Given the scale of the votes for PTI-backed candidates, according to sources the military was unable to “manage” the results for Sharif as planned.

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  • @randon31415@lemmy.worldEnglish
    -3•10 months ago

    Seems strange rooting for the anti-American candidate. Also: Former populist non-politician leader that was charged with corrupt bushiness dealings, mishandling US intelligence documents, and being ‘non-religious’ in his sexual affairs then kicked off the ballot? I wondering if this portends what will happen if Trump is behind bars in November…

    Edit: I was talk about myself rooting for Khan, not the OP.