Islamabad: Independent candidates aligned with imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan surged ahead in Pakistan’s election, according to reports from local TV channels on Friday.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was prevented from running as a unified bloc in Thursday’s election. However, unofficial tallies from local TV channels indicated that independent candidates, many of whom were backed by PTI, were leading in numerous constituencies.
The first official result, which went to a PTI candidate, was declared shortly after 4:30 am (2330 GMT), over 11 hours after the polls closed. These projections were based on counting at the local constituency level.
While the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was anticipated to secure the most seats, analysts had suggested that its 74-year-old founder, Nawaz Sharif, had the support of the military-led establishment. However, local TV channels reported that the party’s performance was lackluster, with Sharif trailing behind his opponent in one of the constituencies he contested.
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