Pakistan's General Election 2024: Imran Khan's PTI-backed candidates win 101 seats but fall short of majority
Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday announced the complete results of the country's General Election 2024 held on February 8.
According to the election results announced for the National Assembly, or the lower house of the country's parliament, independent candidates who support his party Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI) won 101 seats, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif got 75 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari got 54 seats.
The Independent candidates, despite their numbers, are 32 seats short of the majority mark needed to form the government.
Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) was backed by the Army and was the favourite to win the polls.
Yesterday, both Khan and the three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory.
The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the final results after 60 hours the polls ended on Thursday evening.
The Pakistan Election Commission attributed the delay to internet issues, which resulted in difficulties for polling stations in transmitting the results.
The strong performance of independent candidates underscores the enduring popularity of former Prime Minister Imran Khan among the nation's 241 million people.
Imran Khan’s success comes at a time when the country is grappling with financial challenges as it strives to cope with the fastest inflation rate in Asia.
PTI is also likely to stage nationwide protests today due to the delay in releasing the final results of the elections, said the reports.
In an effort to prevent Imran Khan's party from helming the country's top office, Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto are engaging in discussions to form an alliance. However, even with their combined strength, they would still fall short of the majority by 6 seats.
Meanwhile, several independent candidates, supported by PTI, have alleged fraud in the election results and have approached the high court.
Local media reports said that more candidates may also seek the court’s intervention in the poll results, accusing the election of being rigged.
(With UNI/Xinhua inputs)
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