Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Imran Khan’s allies have accused Pakistani authorities of rigging the vote count in Thursday’s election to prevent them from gaining power after their remarkable electoral victory. Candidates supporting Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party secured the most seats, but claimed that the actual count was even higher, despite facing arrests and harassment orchestrated by the military in an effort to suppress the party before the elections. The counting process was still ongoing on Saturday afternoon. Independent candidates, predominantly PTI leaders prohibited from running under the party symbol, had won 100 out of the 265 contested seats, according to Pakistan’s Election Commission. This put them comfortably ahead of their main competitors, with the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by veteran leader Nawaz Sharif, securing 71 seats, and the Pakistan People’s party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, securing 54 seats. The PML-N and PPP, long-standing ruling parties in Pakistan before the PTI’s ascent, entered negotiations to form a ruling coalition late on Friday. Raoof Hasan, a PTI leader, expressed that numerous “seats have been tampered with” and stated that due to the overnight reversal of results, their lead had decreased, promising to challenge the results in court. The election was riddled with delays, a mobile network blackout, and alleged irregularities in the vote counting process, leading the EU to caution against “allegations of severe interference in the electoral process”. The US also expressed concerns over alleged interference in the electoral process but stated its commitment to work with the next Pakistani government, irrespective of the political party in power. PTI claimed that election officials had manipulated the results to diminish their seat share. In a message supposedly from Imran Khan, who has been in detention since August and was ineligible to run in the election, the former prime minister asserted that his party had won 170 seats. He further stated, through a message converted into an AI-generated version of his voice, “We have won the 2024 election with a two-thirds majority. Everyone has seen the strength of your vote. Now you must demonstrate the ability to safeguard your vote.” With no single party securing a majority, the stalemate threatens to plunge the new parliament into discord and inefficiency at a time when Pakistan is grappling with an economic crisis. Shehbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, met with Zardari as the PML-N and PPP endeavored to outmaneuver PTI for power, having previously served in a short-lived coalition after Khan was removed as prime minister in 2022. Political scientist Hasan Askari Rizvi stated that he anticipates the two parties to have an advantage in forming the new government but suggested that “the PTI [will] agitate inside the parliament and outside the parliament”. Some within the PTI indicated their willingness to form a coalition with smaller parties, although analysts warned that preventing defections among the technically independent candidates would prove to be particularly challenging. Tahira Abdullah, a human-rights activist, asserted, “The periphery of the independents will be up for sale to the highest bidder,” having monitored the election on Thursday, she reported that authorities had attempted to obstruct her and others from observing the ballot counting in the three constituencies she visited. She remarked, “The evidence she saw “points to only one conclusion: that something happened in the middle of the night that they didn’t want observers to witness.” Analysts had low expectations for the PTI’s success. Following the loss of power in a no-confidence vote in 2022, Khan fell out with the army, whose support is considered crucial for governing Pakistan, leading to the arrests of thousands of PTI leaders and supporters in the lead-up to the elections. Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir defended the election, describing it as “free and unhindered.” He emphasized the necessity for Pakistan’s parties to exhibit “political maturity and unity” and to “move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization”. However, for the millions of PTI-supporting Pakistanis who believed their party had emerged victorious, the notion of a return to the established political dynasties would be a blatant infringement of the people’s will. Mohsin Raza, a 21-year-old university student, expressed, “Everyone knows what’s happening in Pakistan. They have already ruled Pakistan for over 30 years. The people of Pakistan want a new leader.”
