Pakistan election: Imran Khan allies win most seats

Independent candidates affiliated with jailed Pakistani political leader Imran Khan’s party won the most National Assembly seats in Pakistan’s general election, a surprise victory in a vote marred by a slow count and rigging allegations.

CNN reports citing the Election Commission of Pakistan, independent candidates won 98 seats so far, with 22 seats still unclaimed.

The majority of the independents are affiliated with Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz party (PMLN), which had been favoured to sweep the polls, has so far won the second-most seats with 69. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has the third-most with 51 seats.

In a speech released Friday, an AI-generated version of Khan claimed victory in the election and called on his supporters to “now show the strength of protecting your vote.”

Khan, who has been behind bars since August, has been using AI to get messages out to supporters. “You kept my trust, and your massive turnout has stunned everyone,” the AI voice said in the video.

Khan’s opponent, former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, claimed that his PMLN party had emerged with the largest share. He admitted that his party did not have the “majority to form a government” and was looking for coalition partners.

Violent protests had broken out on Friday over allegations of vote rigging and the slow vote count, amid warnings from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that the “lack of transparency” surrounding the delay in announcing the election results was “deeply concerning.”

At least two people were killed and 24 injured in Shangla in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during a confrontation between workers from Khan’s political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and police officers.

A police officer in Shangla told CNN that two protesters had died when they were hit by stones thrown by their group at police. However the PTI-affiliated local candidate, Syed Fareen, told CNN that they were having a peaceful demonstration when the police fired on the protesters, killing the two workers and injuring at least 24.