Pakistan elections: Allies of Imran Khan lead in last leg of vote count

Candidates loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan edged ahead in Pakistan's election on Friday, in front of the two dynastic parties believed favoured by the military, as the vote count entered its final leg.

Khan was barred from contesting the election and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was subject to a sweeping crackdown — blocked from holding rallies and taken off the ballot, forcing candidates to run as independents.

But the latest results in a slow counting process showed PTI loyalists had so far won around 70 of the more than 200 seats called for the 266-member national assembly. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had won around 60 and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) around 40 as night fell Friday.

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Most of the seats won by PTI-backed candidates were in its stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while results were still coming in for the most populous province of Punjab, won by PTI in the last election but where the family of former premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has historically held sway.

Unofficial tallies on local TV stations had independents in the lead for many of the remaining seats up for grabs.

Candidates who run as independents can nominate affiliation to any party within 72 hours of victory — a practice that frequently leads to horse-trading and deal-making in Pakistan politics and which could imperil PTI's success.

"But even if PTI is unable to form a government, the elections show there are limits to political engineering," said Bilal Gilani, executive director of polling group Gallup Pakistan.

"It shows that the military does not always get their way — that is the silver lining," he told AFP.

The election was marred by violence, mostly in the border regions neighbouring Afghanistan, with 61 attacks nationwide, the interior ministry said Friday.

At least 16 people were killed — including 10 security force members — and 54 wounded.

More than 650,000 army, paramilitary and police personnel were deployed to provide security.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said the delay in results was due to a day-long mobile network shutdown imposed by the government during voting on Thursday.

But the hold-up stoked allegations ballots were being tampered with. In northwestern Peshawar city, some 2,000 PTI supporters blocked an arterial road trailing party flags and chanting "We need justice!"

"Our results have been changed," claimed 28-year-old shopkeeper Muhammad Saleem. "The government should recount all of our votes."

"The delaying tactics speak loudly of the results being rigged and there is no other reason behind the delay," Nisar Ahmed, a 45-year-old shop owner, told AFP in the southern city of Karachi.

Sadaf Farooqi, a 40-year schoolteacher, added there could be "no other reason except the results are being tampered with".

Sharif's PML-N had been expected to win the most seats following Thursday's vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder had the blessing of the military-led establishment.

PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said they were still hopeful of taking Punjab, crucial to forming a government.