Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League has declared itself the winner of the election. The party of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan also says it has been successful in the elections.
Parliament and Prime Minister were voted in Pakistan. There were more than 5,000 candidates, 313 women were nominated.
Ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan of Nawaz Sharif The Muslim League (PML-N) has declared itself the winner of the Pakistani elections. Of the registered parties, PML-N got the most seats, but independent candidates are still getting a majority. The 74-year-old Sharif invited other parties to cooperate, as his party’s seats are not enough to form a government.
On Saturday, the counting of votes was still in progress. Independent candidates had won 99 seats in Pakistan’s 266-seat parliament. At least 88 of the independent candidates were considered to be strongly connected to another ex-prime minister in prison to Imran Khan and to the PTI party he founded.
PTI was not allowed to participate in the elections as a party and its candidates ran as independents. By Saturday, the Muslim League had won 71 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) 53. Minor parties won 27 seats and the fate of 15 seats was still open.
2. Why have doubts about electoral fraud been raised in the elections?
According to the authorities, the internet was blacked out for security reasons on voting day, Thursday. Among others, Pakistan’s former colonial host, Britain and the United States, have been concerned about the transparency of the elections. Election officials have been disturbed, ballot boxes have been lost and candidate lists have been distorted. Candidates of Khan’s PTU party have been threatened and imprisoned.
There is also fake news. Supporters of former prime minister Khan released a video in which a year-old image of the jailed cricket star was combined with speech produced by artificial intelligence. In the video, Khan declared that PTI’s allies had won the election. In the video, he accused his opponents of falsifying the election results.
3. What is the significance of Pakistan Army?
Pakistan was under military rule from 1999-2008. The generals still have a lot of influence in the decisions made formally by the civilian administration. The army has supported former Prime Minister Sharif. Former Prime Minister Khan is said to have lost his post in part because the armed forces withdrew their support from him. The British broadcasting company BBC writes about it, among others.
Pakistan’s powerful military called for an end to the standoff as the vote counting progressed.
– Elections are not a zero-sum game where you win and lose. The nation needs a steady and healing hand to move on from the politics of anarchy and confrontation, said the commander Syed Asim Munir.
4. Why is Pakistan’s stability important?
The vote was marred by violence. Thirty people have died and dozens have been injured during the elections. The aim is to avoid the spread of political violence.
Pakistan has nuclear weapons and unstable neighbors like Iran and Afghanistan. There are an estimated two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Returning them to Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban network would further worsen the poor food situation in the country.
India and China do not want to let the debt-prone country of the young population into chaos. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have prepared numerous debt programs for Pakistan. Islamic extremist groups do not want to gain strength in an explosive area.
India and Pakistan have been arguing over the mountainous region of Kashmir since their independence in 1947. Border skirmishes and acts of terrorism on both sides of the border are cooling the relations between the two countries. Pakistan opposes the dissolution of the self-rule of the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.
AFP, Reuters, STT