Pakistan will face weeks of political uncertainty after an inconclusive election, with results from dozens of constituencies facing court challenges and rival parties negotiating possible alliances, analysts said on Monday.
Independent candidates loyal to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan won a majority of seats in Thursday’s elections, reducing the chances of the military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party of winning a ruling majority.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rejected the months-long crackdown, which disrupted election campaigning and forced candidates to contest as independents to emerge as winners of the vote. .
There were widespread allegations of voting fraud and manipulation of the results when authorities shut down the country’s mobile phone network for security reasons on election day and counting took more than 24 hours.
Pakistan-based political analyst Ambar Rahim Shamsi said, “Three potential challenges remain to the legitimacy of the election through protracted legal proceedings, protests and the possibility of violence.”
Despite independents winning 101 National Assembly seats, the government can only be formed by a recognized party or a coalition of parties, so they must join another group to become an effective block.