Pakistani parties reject election results and demand new vote after Imran Khan prevails
The vote was meant to be a rare democratic transition in the Muslim country, which has been ruled by the powerful army for roughly half its history
Imran Khan’s party said it has begun talks with independents and small parties to form a coalition government after a resounding triumph in Pakistan’s general election, while rival parties planned protests over alleged vote rigging.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) won 116 seats in Wednesday’s ballot, short of the 137 needed for a parliamentary majority but a surprisingly strong showing that helped fuel suspicion of rigging.
The latest tally, which was updated on Saturday afternoon after long delays, showed the outgoing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in a distant second place with 64 seats.
There will be protests … We will not allow democracy to be taken hostage by the establishment
Khan’s party has begun reaching out to potential coalition partners to form a government, according to spokesman Fawad Chaudhry, a task that analysts said should be straightforward.
“We have contacted small parties and independent members, they will soon meet party leaders in Islamabad,” Chaudhry said late on Friday, adding that the process was likely to take about 10 days.
Chaudhry’s comments followed an announcement by rival parties vowing to launch a protest “movement”, after foreign observers voiced concerns about the contest.
More than a dozen parties calling themselves the All Parties Conference (APC) promised to protest the results.
“We think a robbery has been committed,” Maulana Fazalur Rehman, head of the religious Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party, told reporters late on Friday. “We will run a movement for the holding of elections again. There will be protests … We will not allow democracy to be taken hostage by the establishment (the military).”
