Pakistani authorities on Thursday said full results of the general election would be delayed as cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan led in a partial count that opponents said was rigged.
The party of Mr. Khan's jailed chief rival, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif , called the count an assault on democracy in the nuclear-armed, Muslim country which has a history of military rule.
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob said told reporters early on Thursday that counting had been delayed due to technical failures in an electronic reporting system and the tallying was now being conducted manually. The results had been due by 2 a.m. He said, “There's no conspiracy, nor any pressure in the delay of the results. It is being caused because the result transmission system has collapsed.”
Mr. Yaqoob said he could not set an exact deadline when the full results would be released but it would be done as soon as possible.
With 30% of the total vote counted, Mr. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, was listed by the ECP as leading in 113 of the 272 contested National Assembly constituencies.
Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was ahead in 66 constituencies, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by the son of assassinated two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, led in 39 constituencies.
Update as on Wednesday:
Mr. Khan's camp was increasingly confident, but it still appeared likely to fall short of a clear majority in the National Assembly.
As counting continued, projections from four local TV channels put Mr. Khan's party ahead, estimating it would win between 107 and 120 seats of 272 elected seats available, while Sharif's outgoing ruling party was estimated at between 42 and 69. However, those projections were based on only about 20% of votes counted.
Mr. Khan's party spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry, showed confidence as the early projections were broadcast, saying in a tweet “Congratulations to the nation on a new Pakistan! Prime Minister Imran Mr. Khan”.
Mr. Sharif's brother Shehbaz, who now leads the PML-N , rejected the count after complaints that soldiers stationed in polling stations had thrown out political parties' monitors during the tabulations.
“It is a sheer rigging. The way the people's mandate has blatantly been insulted, it is intolerable,” Mr. Shehbaz said at a news conference as the counting continued.
“We totally reject this result,” he said. “It is a big shock to Pakistans democratic process.”
Wednesday's election will be only the second civilian transfer of power in Pakistan's 71-year history.
But campaigning has been plagued for months by allegations that the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Mr. Khan's favour after falling out with the party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month.
About 371,000 soldiers have been stationed at polling stations across the country, nearly five times the number deployed at the last election in 2013.
‘ Serious threat’
Wednesday's voting was marred by a suicide bombing that killed 35 people near a polling station in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Baloochistan. Islamic State claimed has claimed the responsibility for the attack.
During the count, outgoing PML-N Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir-Khan tweeted that official result forms were not given at hundreds of polling stations, decrying what he called ”blatant, callous, shameless rigging”.
The PPP also complained that its polling agents were asked to leave during the vote count in a number of voting centres.
“This is the warning bell of a serious threat,” said PPP senator Sherry Rehman. “This whole election could be null and void, and we don't want this.”
Several smaller parties made similar complaints in public statements.
Whichever party wins, it will face a mounting and urgent in-tray, from a brewing economic crisis to worsening relations with on-off ally the United States to deepening cross-country water shortages.
Mr. Khan has promised an “Islamic welfare state” and cast his populist campaign as a battle to topple a predatory political elite hindering development in the impoverished mostly-Muslim nation of 208 million people, where the illiteracy rate hovers above 40%.
“This is the most important election in Pakistan's history,” Mr. Khan, 65, said after casting his vote in Islamabad.
“I ask everyone today — be a citizen, cherish this country, worry about this country, use your vote.”
Prospect of weeks of haggling
Mr. Khan has staunchly denied allegations by the PML-N that he is getting help from the military , which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its history and still sets key security and foreign policy. The Army has also dismissed allegations of meddling in the election.
The PTI had inched ahead of the PML-N in the recent national polls, but even if it gets the most votes, it will likely struggle to win a majority, raising the prospect of weeks of haggling to form a messy coalition government.
Such a delay could further imperil Pakistan's economy, with a looming currency crisis expected to force the new government to turn to the IMF for Pakistan's second bailout since 2013. The PTI has not ruled out seeking succour from China, Islamabad's closest ally.
The PML-N has sought to turn the vote into a referendum on democracy, and had said it was campaigning to protect the ”sanctity of the vote”, a reference to a history of political interference by the military.
PML-N spokeswoman Maryam Aurangzeb said there had been complaints about the vote counting. “We have serious reservations. Our political agents have been pushed out and results are being withheld,” she said at a press conference.
