On February 9, Pakistan's two rival former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, both claimed victory in a tense parliamentary election that was marred by a series of bloody bombings the day before, making the political future in this South Asian country even more unpredictable.
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| The three main candidates in the Pakistani election, from left: former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. (Source: the Dawn) |
With 69 seats, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party won the most seats as a single political bloc.
However, supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who ran as independents after his party (PTI) was banned from contesting, won a total of 98 seats in Pakistan's 265-seat legislature.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, won 51 seats.
Analysts had predicted no clear winner in the closely contested general election, as Pakistan struggles to recover from an economic crisis and political violence and polarization increase.
Previously, Mr. Nawaz Sharif declared that if his party did not win enough seats in the National Assembly to form a government, he would form an alliance with other political parties to achieve this goal.
Meanwhile, independent candidates supporting Imran Khan said they would meet and consult with the jailed former prime minister to determine their next steps.
Under Pakistani law, independent candidates are not allowed to form a new political party to form a government even if they win a majority of seats, but are allowed to join any political party that contests the election as an MP.
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