Pakistan vote counts drags on

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s vote count following a national election on Thursday was hit by unusual delays, leading the country’s election panel to issue a late night warning to polling officers, 10 hours after polls closed, to release results immediately.

The election had already been marred by militant attacks and suspension of mobile phone services, with no indication of a clear leader many hours after voting ended.

The South Asian country is struggling to recover from an economic crisis while it grapples with rising militant violence in a deeply polarised political environment.

An “internet issue” was the reason behind the delay, said Zafar Iqbal, special secretary at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), after he announced the first official results for a constituency, more than ten hours after polling ended.

The main contests are expected to be between candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose party won the last national election, and the Pakistan Muslim League of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who analysts say is being backed by the powerful military.

With counting continuing through the night, a clear picture was likely to emerge early on Friday.

Projected results on all local television channels were unusually slow coming in. In previous elections, by midnight local time on election day, there was a clearer picture about which party had a substantial lead.

But most projections on television channels were below 20 per cent on each of the 265 seats being contested in the federal parliament.

“The Election Commission has ordered all provincial election commissioners and returning officers to announce all results in half an hour or strict action will be taken,” a statement from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said, minutes before it announced its first official result.

A party needs 133 seats for a simple majority but many analysts believe the vote may not produce a clear winner.

Sharif, considered by many observers to be a strong candidate, dismissed talk of an unclear result.

“Don’t talk about a coalition government. It is very important for a government to get a clear majority... It should not be relying on others,” he told reporters after casting his vote in the eastern city of Lahore.

Thousands of troops were deployed on the streets and at polling stations across the country and borders with Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed as security was stepped up to ensure peaceful polling.

Despite the heightened security, nine people, including two children, were killed in bomb blasts, grenade attacks and shootings.

At least 26 people were killed in two explosions near electoral candidates’ offices in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Wednesday. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for those attacks.