Former three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, addressing supporters in Lahore on Friday night, claimed to have secured the most seats as a party and called for the formation of a unity government by reaching out to allies.
In connection with this, his younger brother and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Pakistan People’s Party leader and former President Asif Zardari to discuss the developments.
Results from 251 out of 266 general seats in the National Assembly show that independent candidates backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are leading with 99 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz with 71, PPP with 54, and MQM with 17, among others.
A party needs 169 seats in the 336-member lower house to form the government with a simple majority.
Incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan also claimed victory in a speech generated through AI, stating that his party won a two-thirds majority.
PTI spokesman Rauf Hassan said they would form the federal government, as well as governments in the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
However, provisional results suggest that PTI-backed candidates may not be able to form a government on their own. The PTI has already lost its right to reserved seats, which enhances any party’s chances of reaching the magic number for political supremacy.
Independent candidates, however, have the option to join any party after the elections.
Reports indicated that PTI-backed independents were considering joining the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), a religious party.
But its leader Allama Abbas Nasir told Anadolu that there had been no such discussion. “I met Khan Sahab in jail on Feb. 6… We have supported Khan Sahab all along; they have supported us… but the PTI has other options too, and there have been no such discussions at all,” Abbas said over the phone from Islamabad.
“We neither offered them nor have we discussed it. But we are unconditionally supporting Khan Sahab,” he added.
His party won one parliament seat, as the final results are still Gradually moving.