Ahead of the official declaration, Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) claims victory and looks forward to form the government. According to a senior aide of Imran Khan, the party plans to form the government and called on supporters to peacefully protest if the final results were not released by Saturday night.
PTI-backed candidates were leading the elections on Friday with PML-N and PPP trailing behind. Both Khan and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had declared victory on Friday. Sharif, who enjoys the military support, had called on other parties to join hand for forming a coalition government.
Meanwhile amid delays, President Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan could have avoided the crisis from delay if electronic voting machines were used.
"EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been available & printed within five minutes of closing of poll,” said Alvi.
Remember 'our' long struggle for Electronic Voting Machines. EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been…
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) February 10, 2024
Gohar Khan, the chairman of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) party, while taking to reporters, said the party would hold peaceful protests on Sunday outside government offices returning election results around the country if the results are not released by Saturday night.
Meanwhile Pakistan had responded to the concerns raised by the US, UK and the European Union about the electoral process. Amid rigging allegations, violence and delay, the world powers had raised serious concerns and called on for investigation to the irregularities, interference and fraud.
However, Pakistan's foreign office said they ignore the "undeniable fact" of Pakistan conducting elections “successfully.”
Despite Khan’s imprisonment under various charges including corruption, the independent candidates backed by PTI won the largest share in parliament. Reportedly, PTI had won 101 seats in the National Assembly. While, PML-N had 73 seats, and PPP with 54, followed by other smaller parties.
A party must win 133 seats out of 265 to form a government in the National Assembly.
