Photo : Collected
Independent candidates linked to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan were outperforming expectations Friday (9 February) in early tallies from Pakistan's election, after a long delay in results added to accusations of poll rigging.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was barred from contesting Thursday's election as a bloc, but unofficial tallies by local TV channels showed independent candidates -- including dozens anointed by his party -- leading in the most constituencies. By 9:00 am (0400 GMT) -- more than 16 hours after polling stations closed -- the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced just 13 National Assembly results.
Five had gone to independent candidates linked to PTI, four to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and four to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). "Independents spring surprise, PTI-backed candidates defy odds," said the headline of the English-language Express Tribune newspaper on Friday.
"There was a sense of certainty about the outcome," Sarah Khan, an assistant professor of political science at Yale University, told AFP. "That sense of certainty got upset very early on," she added. "It's definitely not the foregone conclusion that anybody thought it might be."
Before the first results were officially announced, PTI chief organiser Omar Ayub Khan said he was confident the party had done enough. "Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed independent candidates have the ability to form the next federal government with a two-thirds majority," he said in a video statement released to media.
The PML-N had been expected to win the most seats following Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif had the blessing of the military-led establishment.
Party spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said they were still hopeful of taking the largest province of Punjab, crucial to forming a government.
The PPP, meanwhile, appeared to be doing better than expected, with leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari saying early results were "very encouraging".
The election commission had earlier blamed "internet problems" for a delay in results, but said they would now "be flowing in continuously".
"Why did they take so long? Why not announce results before 1 am?" asked Ambreen Naz, 35, a businesswoman in Lahore.
"You know what will happen now? The stock market will open with volatile swings. The dollar will rise and the rupee will fall. All because they delayed the results and made them controversial," she told AFP.
Messenger/Disha
