Sharif declares himself winner of Pakistan's elections without waiting for the end of the count

Pakistan's elections, held on Thursday, still do not yield a clear result a day after a turbulent, polarized election day mired in accusations of fraud. Despite this, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared himself the winner of the elections and has invited other parties to form a coalition government. But counting continues at an unusually slow pace as signs grow that independent candidates — many of whom support jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan — could emerge with a surprise victory. They would thus repeat Khan's 2018 electoral victory, although without a majority and with his leader behind bars and without running under the acronym of his formation, the Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI). Khan has also claimed victory in a message from prison.

Although there is no official result yet, Khan-backed candidates are leading the count for Parliament with 96 of the 236 seats announced as of Friday afternoon. They would thus obtain more seats than the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, led by Sharif, with 66; and that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), with 51, led by Bilawal Bhutto, son of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman to serve as prime minister in the country. Of the 265 seats in Parliament, 134 are needed to obtain a majority. Sharif, even with the count in progress, considers himself the winner and ready to form a coalition government. “All parties should come together to form a Government, and the League invites them to work with it to help Pakistan get out of the crisis,” Sharif said in statements reported by the Qatari network Al Jazeera. Specifically, the leader looks at the PPP, the party with which he governed in coalition in 2022 – despite the fact that Bhutto has ruled out this option – and five other minority parties.

The vote count has been mired in accusations of fraud and polarization. The PTI candidates, who presented themselves as independents – after the Electoral Commission prohibited the party from using its emblematic symbol, a cricket bat, in the elections – have reproached the Army for its alleged intervention in the elections to prevent Khan's victory. . Faced with these complaints, the European Union has urged the authorities to “guarantee a timely and complete investigation of all electoral irregularities.” For its part, the United States has indicated that it is “prepared to work” with the next Pakistani government “regardless of the political party.”

Violence and political division

The fifth most populous country in the world, a nuclear nation plagued by an economic crisis and rampant inflation, closed the polls on Thursday at five in the afternoon (local time) in a general election marked by growing violence and political division. . The day took place under a very strong security device, with some 700,000 members of the law enforcement forces deployed. The Pakistani army reported that at least 12 people were killed, mostly security personnel, and another 39 were injured in around fifty attacks, mostly in the provinces of Khyber Pashtunjuá and Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan. The spiral of violence, on the rise in recent times in this nation of some 250 million inhabitants (128 million were called to the polls), was also manifested with intensity on the eve of the vote: at least 26 people were murdered on Wednesday in two attacks next to candidate offices in the unstable region of Balochistan, claimed by the Islamic State.

More than half of the country's voting centers had been declared at risk of violence or attacks; up to 80% in Balochistan, where militia activity has intensified in recent times. In January, a tense missile exchange between Iran and Pakistan against insurgents in these borderlands made the world hold its breath for a few days, threatening to export the Middle East crisis to Asia.

No mobile phone lines

The borders with Iran and Afghanistan remained closed and the authorities temporarily suspended the mobile phone signal, for security reasons, which began to be restored at night. The closure of the lines provoked criticism from some of the candidates. Bilawal Bhutto, of the PPP, demanded the immediate restoration of the service “so that the voting process can continue in a transparent manner,” according to what he said on social networks.

Amnesty International also denounced that the cutting of telephone lines represented a “reckless attack” against the rights of citizens. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an NGO, has “deplored” the unexplained delay in announcing the results. “This lack of transparency is deeply worrying.”

The imprisoned Imran Khan, who voted from prison, launched messages on his social networks that point towards a great mobilization of his electorate. “Despite all possible methods used to undermine the will of the people, our people have spoken today with a massive vote,” he said in his X profile. His party, the PTI, estimated that it could obtain an absolute majority, which could be undermined by political persecution. “However, the late-night manipulation of results is an absolute disgrace and a blatant theft of the nation's mandate,” the party denounced on social media. “The people of Pakistan vehemently reject the manipulated results. “The world is watching.”

Two days before the vote, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed his “concern” at “the pattern of harassment, arrests and prolonged imprisonment of leaders of the Pakistan Justice Movement and their sympathizers,” in addition to for the multiple legal cases against Khan, who has been convicted up to three times in recent days and still has pending cases.

Khan, 71, a former national cricket star, won the elections in 2018, after managing to excite a good part of the electorate, especially the young and educated sectors of Pakistani society. But, once in command, she came into conflict with the country's powerful military, whose influence continues to be decisive. He was removed from power in a parliamentary motion of no confidence in 2022, and replaced by the brother of the previous prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, which would pave the way for the return of the self-exiled Nawaz Sharif.

Sharif, 74, has served as prime minister three times. The last one, until 2017, when he resigned surrounded by corruption investigations that ended in a prison sentence and political disqualification for life. He spent four years in self-exile, but returned to the country last October. His convictions were annulled, leaving the way open for his candidacy, which, after this Friday's results, he still keeps alive.

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