Pakistan Election Results 2024 Highlights: PTI-backed candidates put up valiant effort despite all odds

"People’s mandate has won. Now PTI will form the next Government," said Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, who is a member of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Pakistan's powerful military on Thursday congratulated the nation on the "generally peaceful and violence-free" conduct of the general elections, and expressed its hope that the outcome of the polls would serve as a "catalyst for further strengthening democracy" in the coup-prone country.

PML-N’s candidate Nawaz Sharif is ahead with 12,300 votes in Lahore’s NA-130 with 12,300 votes, as per the unofficial and unverified results of 112 out of 376 polling stations, reported the Express Tribune.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif is trailing with 2,757 votes behind Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Yasmin Rashid with 3,057 votes, Dawn reported unofficial results as of 9:15 pm. PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan is leading in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's NA-10 ahead of Abdul Rauf.

PTI has said today’s voter turnout in “unprecedented numbers” is a victory for the nation. "Even though the illegitimate, fascist regime tried every low tactic to scare & dissuade people from voting, the people of Pakistan came out today in unprecedented numbers to vehemently reject the system of oppression, lawlessness & fraud!" the party said on X.

The Interior Ministry has said mobile phone services have been partially restored in parts of the country, Dawn reported. The mobile and internet services were temporarily suspended to maintain peace amid a deteriorating law and order situation, which raised concerns among political parties.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) affiliated candidate Shoaib Shaheen is leading with 157 votes in Islamabad's NA-47 constituency while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Tariq Fazal Chaudhary is lagging behind him with 98 votes, reported the Express Tribune.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is leading from Lahore's NA-127 constituency with 1,386 votes while PML-N's Ataullah Tarar is behind with 613 votes, reported ARY News.

Geo News reported that former PM Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz is leading in Lahore's NA-119 constituency by 736 votes.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that elections were held in a “100 per cent transparent and peaceful” manner, adding that no citizen was prevented from voting, Dawn reported.

Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, leader of Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami, expressed concern over deteriorating conditions in Karachi, alleging workers were fired upon and injured outside polling stations in NA-232 constituency, Dawn reported.

Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has claimed that the ex-foreign minister is leading in Lahore's NA-127 constituency after counting began.

Counting of votes is underway after polling ended at 5 pm, according to Pakistan media reports. Voters who were present inside the premises of polling stations before the closing time were allowed to complete the electoral process.

Shortly after polling concluded across Pakistan, interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar congratulated the nation for the “successful conduct” of the general elections, despite allegations of rigging, delays and attacks on security personnel.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar visited various polling stations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to assess the polling shortly before it concluded. reported the Express Tribune.

Armed men stormed polling station number 72 and 78 in NA-233 constituency of Landhi No 6 in Karachi and broke ballot boxes, reported Geo News.

Polling marred by rigging allegations and cellular and internet outages has concluded across Pakistan. The voting process began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm.

The PTI has demanded an extension in the polling deadline, which ends at 5 pm. "There have been a lot of complaints from the election staff about the delays in the polling process. A large number of people have gathered outside the polling stations to exercise their right to vote," said the party’s chief organiser Omar Ayub on X.

As authorities in Pakistan suspended mobile services across the country on the polling day, Commonwealth Observers’ Group head Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Thursday said casting votes was more important than internet services.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has admitted that the interim government cannot “guarantee” free and fair elections, Dawn reported. He further said there is no attempt to “target a specific party or group” amid claims of pre-poll rigging and candidate harassment.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) blamed the authorities for deliberately creating hurdles in Karachi's NA-236 constituency, resulting in a delay in voting. A large number of voters were waiting since morning to cast their ballot due to the absence of polling staff, they couldn’t exercise their right, Geo News reported.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said the time for casting votes for general elections 2024 would not be extended. The electoral body also said that it had received 55 complaints and 45 of them were resolved, whereas work on 10 others was underway.

Daniyal Aziz, PML-N leader contesting elections from NA-75 as an independent, has reportedly been beaten up and picked up by police. In a video message shared on X, his wife, Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, blamed PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal and Ahmad Iqbal, reported the Express Tribune.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take note of the mobile and internet services disruptions across the country on the polling day, Geo News reported

Caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz has said polling has been smooth in Islamabad and throughout the country, according to Dawn. This statement came as unidentified gunmen opened fire on police officers, killing five and wounding two.

The Karachi division of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has said that “massive rigging” is being carried out in the city by the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Dawn reported.

Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that internet services were suspended due to security concerns, adding that “it should be seen in the same context”, reported Geo News.

The Election Correspondence Cell of the PTI in Sindh has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to restore internet services across the country, saying that it was a “brazen assault on democracy”, Dawn reported.

Amid the suspension of mobile services in Pakistan due to the “deteriorating security situation,” Pakistan's Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Thursday said its Election Management System is not dependent on the Internet and its work will not be affected due to it.

As many as 15 people were injured during a clash between the supporters of two candidates in Kot Addu district of Punjab, Geo News reported. The clash occurred after an exchange of harsh words between the two groups over a matter related to voting.

Police say gunmen set off a bomb and then opened fire at a police van, killing five officers and wounding two others in Pakistan’s northwest.

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The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has demanded the immediate restoration of internet and cellular services across the country.

People were seen waiting outside polling stations in the capital Islamabad, carefully marking their ballots with inked fingers. Pakistan's caretaker information Minister Murtaza Solangi cast a ballot Lahore and urged others to come out to vote before the polls closed in the evening.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday cast his vote at polling station number 82 of constituency NA 127.

Pakistani policeman killed in suspected militant attack in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province-- marking the second such attack since voting began on Thursday, Anadolu reported citing a source.

In northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, gunmen opened fire on troops in the town of Kot Azam, killing a soldier, police official Fiyyaz Khan said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.

The PPP has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of a person’s death due to firing outside the guest house of the party’s president of Mirpurkhas tehsil (NA-242), Dawn reported.

Muhammad Akram still reminisces about casting his ballot in Pakistan's first national election in 1970. The 70-year-old pensioner has since voted in all 10 of Pakistan’s general elections that followed and was ready to head to the polls again on Thursday (February 8). But this time, he said he is no longer hopeful about the results. "In the 1970s we were able to vote for whoever we wanted to, and we didn’t have any problem at that time because there wasn’t any corruption back then," said Akram, referring to reports of widespread rigging and manipulation of voters surrounding every recent election in the country. Financial woes have also deepened for him and his family over the years. Living with his three sons and their families in a one-storey house in downtown Lahore, Akram said they can barely cope with the rising cost of living. “Earlier things were way better, one person used to earn and the entire family could eat. People could eat very well. Now even 10 people earn in a family, it is not enough," he said.

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he would not become the country's top diplomat under Nawaz Sharif if the ex-prime minister comes back to power in Thursday's election. The 35-year-old son of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto became the country’s youngest foreign minister in 2022, in the coalition government led by Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, which was formed after ousting Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party in a no-confidence vote in Parliament earlier that month.

Amid a challenging law and order situation in the country, over 128 million people will exercise their right to vote on Thursday (today) with over 17,000 candidates running for the national and provincial assembly seats in the 2024 general elections, The News reported Thursday. 

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has expressed confidence in winning 40 seats in the Sindh Assembly, Dawn reported. Speaking to reporters in Karachi, Siddiqui said, “God-willing, we will win around 40 provincial seats. There is no contest on 16 seats in Karachi while there is one on two seats.”

In an apparent reference to the Jammat-i-Islami, he said that political parties should be “serving religion” but instead they “use religion to serve themselves”. “They term their symbol the scales of justice,” he said.

Several reports have emerged that ballot boxes are not sealed and the presiding officers have given the excuse that ‘seals are in short supply’. The ballot box seals are meant to be opened only in the presence of polling agents during counting.

Pakistan's former premier Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that his elder brother Nawaz Sharif would become Pakistan's prime minister if his party gets a majority in the parliamentary elections. But in case of a split mandate, the decision about a new leader would be taken after talks with coalition partners, he said.

Pakistan's former premier Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that his elder brother Nawaz Sharif would become Pakistan's prime minister if his party gets a majority in the parliamentary elections. But in case of a split mandate, the decision about a new leader would be taken after talks with coalition partners, he said. Shehbaz, who is also president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), made the comments while talking to the Geo News.

A low voter turnout was reported at a polling station in North Nazimabad’s Block I for Karachi’s NA-250 constituency, Dawn reported.

According to a Dawn reporter, she reached the Ibrahim Ali Bhai Govt School at 10am to cast her vote, adding that attendance was thin.

After imposing a nationwide clampdown on mobile services, Pakistan temporarily shut some of its land borders on Thursday as it beefed up security for voters in a general election that has been preceded by a surge in militant violence. 

Pakistanis in the northwestern city of Peshawar cast their ballots for the country's general election on Thursday (February 8) morning. Authorities have temporarily suspended mobile phone services in Pakistan and strengthened security amid fears of further militant attacks and possible unrest.

Pakistan Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, commenting on the suspension of the internet and cellular services, said the ECP would not ask the ministry for the revival of the services. Raja on Wednesday talked to the chief secretaries and inspectors general of police (IGPs) of the four provinces and directed them to keep security on high alert to ensure the security of voters. This comes as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday evening said internet services would remain functional on Thursday. The PTA in a statement said it had not yet received any instructions from the government to shut internet and that services would work without any interruption on Thursday.

The PTI has termed the suspension of mobile services across the country an “infuriating betrayal” by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

Lahore is out in massive numbers at various polling stations, waiting in long queues even before polling started.

A security personnel member was killed in an attack on election staff in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Thursday, said an official.

Besides Imran Khan, other political leaders who have been facing jail terms in various cases also managed to vote by mail. Those who voted via mail included former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid, and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry.

Former PM Shehbaz Sharif has cast his vote today amid tight security. His predecessor Imran Khan also voted through ballot paper from the jail, Dawn reported citing its sources. 

Voting in Pakistan is currently underway amid tight security arrangements as twin blasts rocked the nation on the eve of the poll day. The explosion resulted in the killing of at least 30 people.

VIDEO: Voting underway under tight security in Pakistan

Amid reports of jailed former PM Imran Khan's PTI party rejecting the general elections, the party has posted a lengthy social media post to debunk the reports. "Let the world know that this is the level to which the illegitimate, fascist regime has stooped to! Petrified of the massive turnout tomorrow for General Elections, the controlled media is being used to run a fake news about PTI boycotting elections, along with running a fake audio!
The illegitimate regime has used every ounce of fascism, propaganda & unprecedented pre poll rigging against Pakistan’s largest, most popular & only federal party PTI, led by illegally incarcerated Imran Khan," it said.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and other prominent incarcerated political figures have cast their votes through a postal ballot from Adiala Jail, Pakistani English daily reported citing sources on Wednesday. However, Mr Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was unable to partake in the voting as she was convicted and arrested after the completion of the postal voting process.

Voting in Pakistan begins in Pakistan with the jailing of popular former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, dominating headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the nuclear-armed country.

Geo News is reporting that mobile phone services have been disrupted in several parts of the country, including Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

 A new political party named Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, believed to be a new face of the banned groups of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, is participating in Thursday's general elections, according to a media report. A BBC Urdu report has said some of the candidates nominated by this organisation from different cities of Pakistan are those who are either relatives of Hafiz Saeed or have been associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa or Milli Muslim League in the past.

Amnesty International urged authorities to guarantee “uninterrupted access” to the Internet for everyone across Pakistan throughout the polling process as the caretaker government said it may selectively suspend services if requested by a district or province due to law and order situation. Pakistan’s Caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz on Tuesday hinted that the government may selectively suspend the internet services on February 8 if requested by a district or province due to the law and order situation.

Nearly 650,000 security personnel have been deployed across poll-bound Pakistan as authorities were busy setting up polling stations to enable more than 12.85 crore registered voters to cast their ballot in the general election on Thursday. Stepped-up security is imperative given the spree of violence with the latest being two devastating bomb blasts targeting election offices on Wednesday in the restive Balochistan province that saw at least 25 people killed and more than 40 others injured.

Radio Pakistan reported that about 6,50,000 security personnel have been deployed on the ground to ensure the security of the voters. These include the personnel of police, civil armed forces, and the armed forces.

Former Pakistan premier Imran Khan, who is currently lodged in jail, urged his supporters on Wednesday to wait outside polling booths after casting their votes, as rival political parties held large rallies to mark the end of the election campaign period. Pakistan goes to the polls on Thursday with the jailing of popular Khan, the winner of the last national election, dominating headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the nuclear-armed country.

 Pakistan's Foreign Office on Wednesday dismissed concerns by UN human rights body about violence and the right to fundamental democratic freedom ahead of the general elections on Thursday, hours before the twin blasts in Balochistan that killed at least 30 people. The two bomb explosions at an election office of an independent candidate in southwest Pakistan injured 50 others

Two bomb explosions at an election office of an independent candidate in southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, the day before parliamentary elections are to be held, killing at least 30 people and wounding at least 50 others, officials said. The attack happened in Pishin, a district in Baluchistan province, said Jan Achakzai, the spokesperson for the provincial government. He said the wounded were being transported to a nearby hospital, and police said some of them were listed in critical condition.

Here are some facts about how the electoral system works in Pakistan

- Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy and voting will take place for seats in the federal legislature, called the National Assembly, and four provincial, or state, legislatures.

- 128 million Pakistanis out of a population of 241 million are eligible to vote - all those above 18. Polling booths are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (0400 GMT to 1200 GMT) usually but time can be extended in exceptional individual circumstances.

- On election day, voters will cast their ballots for two legislators to represent their constituency -one for the National Assembly, and another for the provincial assembly. There are 5,121 candidates contesting for the federal legislature and 12,695 for the provinces.

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Pakistan elections 2024: Among the 3,139 women candidates, 25-year-old Dr Saveera Parkash was the only Hindu and reportedly the first one to file the nomination paper in the Muslim-dominated country. Check out the video to know who is she? 

The youngest hopeful for Pakistan’s next prime minister is Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of the assassinated former Premier Benazir Bhutto and grandson of the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who led the nation in the 1970s and was overthrown and executed by the military.

Both Bhutto-Zardari’s mother and grandfather still command huge reverence among party supporters, handing him a captive audience. He became chairman of his family’s political party days after his mother was killed in 2007 during her third bid for premiership. Bhutto-Zardari’s life in politics was also shaped by his father, Asif Ali Zardari, who served as Pakistan’s president, a mostly ceremonial post, from 2008 to 2013.

He won his first parliamentary seat in 2018 and became foreign minister after Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister. The Bhutto power base is in southern Sindh province, an agricultural and commercial hub, but his party is unlikely to get enough votes to get him the premiership. It could still be part of a Sharif-led coalition government. Bhutto-Zardari, 35, has vowed to end the personal vendettas that characterize Pakistan’s politics and has also urged for investment in climate resilience as a key to the nation’s survival.

Shehbaz Sharif, 72, the younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, succeeded Imran Khan as prime minister in April 2022. He was previously three times the chief minister of Punjab, the largest and most influential province that is also home to half of the country’s population of 240 million. He led their party while his brother was in self-exile in London and became premier when a no-confidence vote in parliament ousted Khan from power.

During Sharif’s term in office, Pakistan was struck by unprecedented rainfall and flash floods in the summer of 2022 that killed 1,700 people and devastated the nation, at one point submerging a third of the country. However, he did not declare a national emergency until late August, when the death toll was in the hundreds.

He also struggled to manage the worst economic crisis in Pakistan’s history and only secured a bailout from the International Monetary Fund by agreeing to a substantial increase in energy tariffs that led to price hikes on everyday goods. That made both him and the party unpopular. Under Pakistan’s constitution, Sharif stepped down when parliament was dissolved last August and a caretaker prime minister took over until the election. If their party wins on Thursday, Sharif will likely play a key role in his brother’s Cabinet.

A former cricket star turned Islamist politician, Imran Khan triumphed on an anti-corruption, anti-establishment platform in the 2018 election to form a coalition government. But his premiership was problematic as his administration cracked down on opposition figures. Some said that religious minorities came under attack because of his concessions to radical clerics; his critics and rights groups said he failed to protect freedom of speech.

Khan, 71, also drew nationwide condemnation after seemingly blaming a rise in sexual violence on women “wearing very few clothes.” On the international stage, he berated the United States as ungrateful for Pakistan’s help in fighting global terror, and called al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, killed in a 2011 U.S. raid in Pakistan, a “martyr” — an honorable term for someone slain in battle.

Khan was ultimately ousted by parliament in April 2022, a move he tried to fight with street protests and claimed it was engineered by Washington and his opponents. He now has more than 150 legal cases against him and has been imprisoned since August, with four convictions for graft, revealing state secrets and breaking marriage laws. He has been sentenced to three, 10, 14 and seven years, to be served concurrently. His legal convictions have barred him from contesting the elections but his party is running and he still has a mass grassroots following.

Like other Pakistani former prime ministers, Sharif has been dogged by legal cases and prison sentences. A Pakistani court in 2020 issued an arrest warrant and threatened to declare him a fugitive from justice if he didn’t return from self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom to face corruption charges. 

Despite the years of controversies, he enjoys immense popularity and musters thousands of supporters at party rallies. He has a clear path to a fourth term in office after courts overturned his convictions and prison sentences after his return to the country last October. With his archrival and nemesis Imran Khan now in prison, the stage appears set for a reversal of fortunes from the 2018 election when Sharif was battling legal cases and Khan became prime minister. With Khan behind bars, analysts predict another victory for Sharif.

Although Asim Munir is not a candidate for the upcoming elections, his role is considered as the most powerful. Pakistan’s military has always cast itself as the ultimate arbiter in key government decisions, though often one behind the scenes. The current army chief, General Asim Munir, a fitness fanatic and former spymaster, is not on the ballot but as the head of military, he still wields huge influence.

Munir has kept a lower profile than his predecessors but has orchestrated military trials for civilians and a crackdown on foreign nationals living in the country illegally. The move, denounced by international and local rights groups, has mainly targeted 1.7 million Afghans living in Pakistan. Munir, who is in his 50s, was also behind a retaliatory airstrike inside Iran in a tit-for-tat series earlier this month that sharply escalated tensions between Tehran and Islamabad.

His uncompromising stance has a profound impact on bilateral relations, political stability and regional security. He also has a personal stake in keeping imprisoned Imran Khan out of the picture. Munir ran the country’s spy agency during Khan’s term in office but was fired without an explanation by the then-premier.

India's neighbouring nation, Pakistan, is scheduled to hold elections for a new parliament on February 8. Thursday. According to the data released by the Pakistan Election Commission, at least 44 political parties are vying for a share of the 266 seats that are up for grabs in the National Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, with an additional 70 seats reserved for women and minorities.

But in a country where civilian governments have been upended by military takeovers and where the army has ruled the nation for half of its 76 years of independence, it’s often the traditional elites that have called the shots.

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Pakistan goes to the polls on Thursday with the jailing of popular former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, dominating headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the nuclear-armed country. The South Asian nation of 241 million people is reeling from decades-high inflation and an economy that has come to a grinding halt as it navigates a tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

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