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Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party celebrate their lead in the country's national elections in Peshawar on February 9, 2024.
(Photo: Abdul Majeed/AFP via Getty Images)
Candidates Backed by Imran Khan's PTI Party Take Lead in Pakistan Elections
A member of the military's preferred party called the early results "probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan's political history."
Feb 09, 2024
This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
Early results released Friday by Pakistani officials showed that candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan are currently leading the country's national elections, a stunning development given measures the nation's powerful military took to suppress the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Members of Khan's party, known as PTI, were forced to run as independents after the nation's Supreme Court and election authorities banned its well-known symbol, a cricket bat. The Associated Press noted that the party also "couldn't hold rallies or open campaign offices, and its online events were blocked."
Friday's tallies from Pakistan's election commission showed that independent candidates backed by PTI have won 62 seats thus far, more than any other party. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League—the preferred party of the nation's military—has won 46 seats.
Results for more than 100 contested seats are still being counted.
Sen. Mushahid Hussain, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League, wrote on social media that the early results mark "probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan's political history."
While PTI supporters welcomed the early results, deep concerns remained over whether their lead would hold amid ongoing tampering allegations.
Just ahead of Thursday's long-delayed election, Pakistani authorities cut off mobile phone and internet services across the country in what human rights groups called an overt attack on the democratic process.
Gohar Ali Khan, PTI's chairman, said late Thursday that "any attempt to change the results overnight will be thwarted and not accepted at any cost by the people of Pakistan or the local and international observers and media."
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This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
Early results released Friday by Pakistani officials showed that candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan are currently leading the country's national elections, a stunning development given measures the nation's powerful military took to suppress the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Members of Khan's party, known as PTI, were forced to run as independents after the nation's Supreme Court and election authorities banned its well-known symbol, a cricket bat. The Associated Press noted that the party also "couldn't hold rallies or open campaign offices, and its online events were blocked."
Friday's tallies from Pakistan's election commission showed that independent candidates backed by PTI have won 62 seats thus far, more than any other party. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League—the preferred party of the nation's military—has won 46 seats.
Results for more than 100 contested seats are still being counted.
Sen. Mushahid Hussain, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League, wrote on social media that the early results mark "probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan's political history."
While PTI supporters welcomed the early results, deep concerns remained over whether their lead would hold amid ongoing tampering allegations.
Just ahead of Thursday's long-delayed election, Pakistani authorities cut off mobile phone and internet services across the country in what human rights groups called an overt attack on the democratic process.
Gohar Ali Khan, PTI's chairman, said late Thursday that "any attempt to change the results overnight will be thwarted and not accepted at any cost by the people of Pakistan or the local and international observers and media."
This is a developing story... Please check back for possible updates...
Early results released Friday by Pakistani officials showed that candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan are currently leading the country's national elections, a stunning development given measures the nation's powerful military took to suppress the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
Members of Khan's party, known as PTI, were forced to run as independents after the nation's Supreme Court and election authorities banned its well-known symbol, a cricket bat. The Associated Press noted that the party also "couldn't hold rallies or open campaign offices, and its online events were blocked."
Friday's tallies from Pakistan's election commission showed that independent candidates backed by PTI have won 62 seats thus far, more than any other party. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League—the preferred party of the nation's military—has won 46 seats.
Results for more than 100 contested seats are still being counted.
Sen. Mushahid Hussain, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League, wrote on social media that the early results mark "probably the biggest election upset in Pakistan's political history."
While PTI supporters welcomed the early results, deep concerns remained over whether their lead would hold amid ongoing tampering allegations.
Just ahead of Thursday's long-delayed election, Pakistani authorities cut off mobile phone and internet services across the country in what human rights groups called an overt attack on the democratic process.
Gohar Ali Khan, PTI's chairman, said late Thursday that "any attempt to change the results overnight will be thwarted and not accepted at any cost by the people of Pakistan or the local and international observers and media."
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