Imran Khan’s party leading in Pak polls

Islamabad : Pakistan’s flamboyant cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was leading on 110 seats, while its main rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was way behind with 67 seats as trends indicated a possible hung parliament.

The election was marred by a deadly suicide attack in Quetta and allegations of manipulation by the powerful military, with several parties raising objections over the entire process. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former president Asif Ali Zardari was leading on 41 seats, indicating he could be the kingmaker in case of a hung parliament.

According to the latest trends available for 268 of the National Assembly’s 272 seats, independents were leading on 18 seats. Polling was postponed on two constituencies following the deaths of candidates in terror attacks. PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif has outrightly rejected the election results, alleging “blatant” rigging.

Pakistan’s National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected whereas the rest - 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities - are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than five per cent of the vote. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total. A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.