Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE: Please follow this space for all the updates coming straight from the political battleground of Pakistan.
Independents backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party bagged the most seats, totaling 101 seats in the National Assembly. Following closely behind were the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 73 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 54 seats.
Additionally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) secured 17 seats, while smaller parties claimed the remaining seats. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) revealed these results, covering 255 out of 265 seats, by Saturday evening. One seat’s election was postponed due to the unfortunate demise of a candidate.
To form a government, a party needs to secure at least 133 seats out of 265 in the National Assembly. Overall, 169 seats are required for a simple majority out of the total 336 seats, including those reserved for women and minorities.
Pakistanis will vote on Thursday to elect a new government to rule the cash-strapped country amid a spree of violence including deadly blasts on the eve of elections in which the front-runner former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is believed to have the backing of the powerful military.
With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is tipped to emerge as the single largest party in the elections.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates are contesting the polls independently after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the election commission to deprive his party of its iconic election symbol cricket ‘bat’. Sharif, 74, will be eying the premiership for a record fourth time in Thursday’s election.
The contest also involves the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who has been declared as the party’s prime minister face.