10 February 2024, 10:49 GMTUpdated 12 minutes agoImage caption, Nawaz Sharif acknowledged his party did not have enough seats to govern alonePakistan’s influential army chief has appealed to the nation to move beyond “chaos and division” as two former prime ministers have declared triumph in an election that has exceeded expectations.With most results now available, independent candidates associated with imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan have secured the majority of seats. However, Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister widely believed to have the army’s support, has urged others to join him in forming a coalition. Officials have also dismissed Western criticism of the election process.With no clear winner, General Asim Munir has called on all parties to display maturity and unity, stating that the politics of division does not align with the principles of a progressive country with a population of 250 million.”Elections are not a zero-sum competition, but rather a process to determine the people’s mandate,” stated Gen Munir. Fourteen seats in the National Assembly are yet to be determined, all in Balochistan province, but both Mr. Khan and Mr. Sharif claim victory. Mr. Khan released a video message produced by artificial intelligence rejecting his rival’s claim and urging his supporters to celebrate. He has been imprisoned on charges of leaking state secrets, corruption, and an illegal marriage, and his PTI party was prohibited from participating in the polls.According to the non-profit organization Free and Fair Election Network, approximately 100 winning candidates are independent, with all but eight of them backed by the PTI.On Saturday, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan stated that the party would attempt to establish a government and would begin protesting on Sunday if the complete election results were not released by then.Mr. Sharif’s PML-N party secured 71 seats, and he acknowledged that he did not have enough seats to form a government independently. However, he insisted that he could lead the country out of challenging times at the helm of a coalition. The PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of the late PM Benazir Bhutto, obtained 53 seats, while the remaining seats were won by smaller parties and independent candidates. However, it may take some time before any party can claim an outright victory, despite Mr. Sharif’s party initiating discussions with other parties.As a result, Pakistan is confronting a “prolonged period of political instability,” according to Dr. Farzana Shaikh from the Chatham House think tank. She told the BBC that it is improbable for the Khan-aligned independents to be permitted to form a government. Meanwhile, many individuals fear that a “fragile and unstable coalition” would emerge from a partnership between Mr. Sharif and the PPP.However, Dr. Shaikh also noted that the election highlighted a growing aversion to the military’s significant role in political affairs.”Millions of voters opted to defy what many believed was the favored outcome by Pakistan’s unaccountable military establishment,” she stated. Analysts have described the army as “a state within a state” in Pakistan, and its influence has shaped national politics and power transitions since the country gained independence from Britain in 1947. The military has staged three coups, and no prime minister in Pakistan has completed a full five-year term.Image caption, Pakistan’s army guarded polling stations on election dayOn Friday, the US, UK, and EU each voiced concerns about the fairness of the election. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron expressed “serious concerns,” raising questions “about the fairness and lack of inclusivity of the elections.” However, Pakistan’s foreign ministry rebuffed these concerns as “not even factual.” The ministry stated that the statements failed to consider “the complexity of the electoral process” and did not recognize the “free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis.”During the election, there were sporadic reports of violence. Mohsin Dawar, a former National Assembly member and leader of the National Defense Movement Party, was shot and injured in an incident in Miranshah, North Waziristan, that claimed the life of a fellow party member, as per his party’s statement. Additionally, there were reports of a protest in the southwestern port city of Gwadar in Balochistan province, where some voters alleged irregularities in vote counting.Additional reporting by Saher Baloch
