Khan candidates take lead after vote count delay

ISLAMABAD: Independent candidates linked to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan appeared Friday to be headed to victory in Pakistan’s election, local media tallies said, as a long delay in official results sparked fears of vote-rigging.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was barred from contesting Thursday’s election as a bloc, but unofficial tallies by local TV channels showed independent candidates — including dozens anointed by his party — leading in the most constituencies.

The first two official results — with both seats going to PTI candidates — were announced shortly after 4:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) more than 11 hours after polling ended.

The ECP had earlier blamed “internet problems” for the delay.

The TV stations were basing their projections on counting done at the local constituency level.

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafbacked independent candidates have the ability to form the next federal government with a twothirds majority,” PTI chief organizer Omar Ayub Khan said in a statement released to the media.

Hundreds of PTI supporters took to the streets of Peshawar, capital of Khan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province heartland, to celebrate what they claimed was victory despite the lack of any official results.

The Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) had been expected to win the most seats following Thursday’s vote, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder Nawaz Sharif had the blessing of the military-led establishment.

However, local TV channels said the party had performed poorly — with Sharif trailing his opponent in one of the constituencies he contested.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) appeared to be doing better than expected, with leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari saying early results were “very encouraging.”

Pollsters predicted a low turnout from the country’s 128 million eligible voters following a lackluster campaign overshadowed by the jailing of Khan and the hobbling of PTI through court orders, a ban on rallies, and harassment of party leaders.

Allegations of poll rigging overshadowed the election, and a voting day shutdown by authorities of the country’s mobile phone network — ostensibly on security grounds — added fuel to the fire.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, told AFP that the delay “suggests that the powers that be are trying to create an environment that allows them to more easily be involved in the electoral process.”

Earlier, millions of Pakistanis braved cold winter weather and the threat of militant attacks to cast their ballots.

More than 650,000 army, paramilitary and police personnel were deployed to provide security on Thursday.