Pakistan faces a interval of uncertainty with the election outcomes displaying no clear majority and two opposing political leaders, Nawaz Sharif from Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and Imran Khan from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), declaring victory.

Full outcomes of Thursday’s elections had been nonetheless not in for 9 of the 265 seats contested late on Saturday.

Unbiased candidates, largely linked to jailed chief Khan’s PTI, are nicely forward with 102 seats, in response to the most recent tally posted on the election fee’s web site. In the meantime, Sharif’s PMLN is in second place, having secured 73 seats, adopted by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Individuals’s Celebration (PPP) with 54.

“That is in all probability probably the most controversial election in Pakistan’s historical past,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad.

He mentioned the chairman of PTI, Gohar Ali Khan, is assured his celebration will probably be within the nationwide parliament in addition to within the province of Punjab, the place they’re claiming to have a majority. They’ve additionally swept the polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In the meantime, PMLN’s Sharif, who additionally claims to have gained the polls, mentioned he would search to kind a coalition authorities. And the PPP’s Zardari burdened there can’t be a formation of a federal authorities, in addition to in Punjab and Balochistan provinces, with out his PPP celebration.

Based on Al Jazeera’s Abid Hussain, two days after the polls have closed, a cut up mandate has emerged among the many massive three political powers and there’s little readability about what comes subsequent.

“With such a cut up, the large query now rests on who will be capable of kind a authorities in Pakistan, a rustic of 241 million individuals which has suffered a turbulent two years with political instability, an financial system on the verge of default and rising inner safety challenges,” Hussain mentioned.

Pakistani analyst Zaigham Khan mentioned there are two attainable situations after the announcement of preliminary outcomes.

“The most definitely situation is a coalition authorities that features all political events – minus the PTI,” Khan advised Al Jazeera. This can embody the 2 largest political events, PPP and PMLN, in addition to MQM, Jamaat-e-Islami and others.

“The second situation, much less possible however technically attainable, is the PPP becoming a member of fingers with the PTI and forming a authorities,” the analyst mentioned. The PTI-affiliated candidates who ran as independents have gathered the most important variety of seats.

Protests

With the nation nonetheless awaiting the ultimate outcomes, protests erupted throughout the nation for the second consecutive day, with demonstrators claiming that the election consequence delay is permitting authorities to rig the vote-counting.

NetBlocks reported a nationwide disruption of social media platform X throughout polling. The PTI has referred to as the interruption “completely shameful”.

Election watchdog Free and Honest Election Community mentioned it gave the Election Fee of Pakistan a typically constructive evaluation of the way it carried out polls, and mentioned that delays in asserting outcomes “overshadowed an in any other case orderly election”, elevating questions concerning the legitimacy of the end result.

“As well as, the caretaker authorities’s suspension of mobile and web providers on election day – whatever the safety causes – undermined years of parliamentary efforts to reform the election outcomes administration course of,” it added in its preliminary report.

In the meantime, the US, United Kingdom and European Union have expressed considerations about Pakistan’s electoral course of, mentioning allegations of interference – together with arrests of celebration staff – and added that claims of irregularities, interference and fraud ought to be absolutely investigated.

British International Secretary David Cameron cited “severe considerations” elevating questions “concerning the equity and lack of inclusivity of the elections”.

In a press release on Saturday, Pakistan’s international workplace mentioned feedback by “sure nations and organisations” ignored the “indisputable fact” of Pakistan holding elections peacefully and efficiently whereas coping with safety threats.

‘Steady fingers’

Amid frustration and uncertainty amongst individuals in Pakistan, the top of the nation’s highly effective military made his first public assertion because the vote.

“The nation wants secure fingers and a therapeutic contact to maneuver on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation, which doesn’t go well with a progressive nation of 250 million individuals,” mentioned Basic Syed Asim Munir, in response to a press release from the navy on Saturday.

“Elections should not a zero-sum competitors of successful and dropping however an train to find out the mandate of the individuals,” the assertion quoted Munir as saying.

“Political management and their staff ought to rise above self-interests and synergise efforts in governing and serving the individuals, which is maybe the one strategy to make democracy practical and purposeful.”

The navy is a dominant participant within the nation’s political affairs and straight dominated it for greater than three a long time since 1947.

Ayesha Siddiqa, senior fellow at King’s School London, mentioned Pakistan’s military has been hoping for a weak coalition to be shaped underneath the PMLN management.

“In a approach, these are the outcomes we bought,” Siddiqa advised Al Jazeera. “However I’d additionally argue that these should not the outcomes they anticipated. They did probably the most to make sure that voter turnout was low, however individuals got here out with a ardour.”

Siddiqa mentioned the military was prone to again a coalition authorities bringing collectively the PMLN and the PPP, however that it was nonetheless uncertain who would lead it, if Bhutto Zardari, Shehbaz Sharif or Nawaz Sharif.