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
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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).”
However the group was divided with some parties pledging to boycott joining the National Assembly and others calling for a new vote.
The PML-N announced its support for the group but stopped short of saying it would boycott the new parliament.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which was notably absent from the APC, said in a separate announcement that it rejected the results, but vowed to try to convince the other parties to participate in the parliamentary process.
Retired general and analyst Talat Masood said the APC may succeed in sparking pockets of unrest but did not see the movement upsetting stability at the national level.
“Opposition parties are divided and they are not genuinely in a mood to form any major opposition. I don’t think they have this stamina and the support of the people for going for a big movement,” said Masood.
The protests announcement late on Friday came as the United States, the European Union and other observers aired reservations about claims the powerful military tried to fix the playing field in Khan’s favour.
Khan’s victory represents an end to decades of rotating leadership between the PML-N and the Bhutto dynasty’s PPP that was punctuated by periods of military rule.
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.
But it was marred by violence and allegations of military interference in the months leading up to the vote, with Khan seen as the beneficiary.
The former cricket star will face many challenges, including militant extremism, an economic crisis with speculation Pakistan will have to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, water shortages and a booming population.
He will also have to contend with the same issue as many of his predecessors: how to maintain a balance of power in civil-military relations.
