Imran's party claims victory in Pak elections; Sharif's PML-N makes counterclaim

Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khans party on Friday claimed victory in the general elections while alleging that results were being delayed to rig the outcomeIn a statement the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI party also asked PMLNs supreme leader Nawaz Sharif who was the favourite to win as he was backed by the powerful Army to concede defeatThe PMLN however rejected the demand and claimed that it was winning Thursdays electionsVotes are still being counted in Pakistan after Thursdays general election which was marred by allegations of rigging sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdownThere were dozens of parties in the fray but the main contest was among Khans PTI whose candidates are running as independents former threetime premier Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League N and Bilawal Zardari Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party PPPIn a statement on X from the PTI official handle the party stated that it won more than 150 NA seats out of 265 open for contest as per the data received in Form 45s which are the primary source of election results at the lowest level and show the votes for each candidate at each polling stationA party must win 133 seats out of 265 being contested to form the next governmentCopies of these forms have been collected by PTI candidates polling agents which show them winning by a large majority According to independent reports PTI has won well over 150 National Assembly seats amp is in a solid position to form government in Federal Punjab amp KP KhyberPakhtunkhwa with a clear majority it statedHowever manipulation of the results in the late hours of the night is an utter disgrace amp a brazen theft of the nations mandate The people of Pakistan vehemently reject the rigged results The world is watching it assertedIn another statement PTI alleged that its mandate was being stolenLet the world know that the clear and overwhelming mandate of the people of Pakistan is being stolen Despite unprecedented prepoll rigging amp oppression there was a record massive turnout on polling day it statedThe party said that every independent candidate backed by it was winning by a landslideIt also said that Returning Officers are now manipulating the results using Form 47 which is a summary of Form 45 from each polling stationFurthermore there are reports of the polling agents getting abducted amp forced to sign fake Form 45s it saidIt also referred to unspecified reports to claim that PTI nominated candidates were losing suddenly in various constituencies now after they had already won by a clear majorityIn another statement the party asked Sharif to concede defeatShow some grace NawazSharifMNS accept the defeat The people of Pakistan will never accept you This is a golden opportunity to regain some credibility as a Democrat Daylight robbery is going to be rejected massively by Pakistan it said in a statement on XPMLN has countered the PTI claim about results and said that it was winningBased on data compiled in PMLN Election Cell and results already in the public domain PMLN has emerged as the single largest political party in the National Assembly and a clear majority party in Punjab Assembly according to party leader Ishaq DarHe also said that premature and biased speculations must be avoided as the country awaits the official complete results from ECPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever