Imran Khan Claims Pakistan Election Win
Former cricketer Imran Khan has claimed victory in Pakistan’s election, amid accusations of vote rigging by rivals.
In a television address, he said: “We were successful and we were given a mandate.”
His PTI party is still expected to fall short of an overall majority, so it would have to seek coalition partners in order to form a government. Campaigning has been marred by violence. On voting day a bomb killed 31 people at a polling station. Mr Khan, the charismatic patrician who captained Pakistan to a World Cup victory in 1992, has long shed his celebrity playboy image and has recently faced accusations that his election challenge was benefiting from military interference in the nuclear-armed republic.
An official confirmation of the vote is still to come. The party of disgraced former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has rejected the results, as have a host of smaller parties, all alleging vote-rigging and manipulation.
The election has been seen as a contest between Mr Khan’s PTI party and Mr Sharif ’s PML-N, with the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the historically liberal PPP, widely expected to come third.
In his address, Mr Khan said: “I think this has been the clearest, fairest election Pakistan has ever had.”
He added that he would investigate any claims to the contrary.
He also appealed to his rivals to join hands with him to develop Pakistan. And he vowed to hold talks with India to seek a resolution to the dispute over the Kashmir region, a key flashpoint between the nuclear-armed countries.
He also called for “mutually beneficial” ties with the United States, despite being an outspoken critic of that country’s anti-terrorism measures in the region, such as drone strikes.