Islamabad: Following a national election on Thursday, Pakistan experienced notable delays in the vote count, prompting the country’s election commission to issue a late-night warning to polling officers, urging them to promptly release results, even ten hours after polls had closed.
The National Assembly, comprised of 336 seats, sees 266 candidates elected through direct voting, while the remaining 70 seats are reserved. Among these reserved seats, 60 are designated for women and 10 for non-Muslims, allocated based on each party’s representation in the Assembly. Securing a simple majority requires a minimum of 133 seats, but it’s speculated by many analysts that the election outcome might not yield a decisive winner.
Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Khan Mahar, representing the Pakistan People’s Party, emerged victorious in the PS-20 Ghotki constituency with 87,431 votes, as confirmed by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Zafar Iqbal, the special secretary at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), attributed the delay in announcing results to an “internet issue,” as he announced the first official results for a constituency more than ten hours post-poll closure.
Pakistan’s political landscape is predominantly shaped by three major parties: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The primary electoral contests are anticipated to unfold between candidates supported by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose PTI emerged victorious in the previous national election, and the Pakistan Muslim League led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reportedly enjoying the backing of the influential military.
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