Pakistan elections: Against the odds, Khan’s PTI proves support is solid

BBC News:

Today’s results are both clear and complicated.

Independent candidates – many of whom would have run under the banner of the PTI party but were prevented from doing so – have taken the largest number of seats.

However the PML-N, led by pre-election frontrunner Nawaz Sharif, can currently claim to be the largest party.

What is clear is that Imran Khan’s PTI party has proved that its popularity is not a social media bubble, but has a real and committed support base.

It came into this election with its founder disqualified and in prison (he is already serving a three-year sentence for corruption, and has been handed further jail terms in recent weeks), and its cricket bat symbol removed from the ballot – an electoral blow in a country with low literacy rates.

Khan, who was ousted as prime minister by his opponents in 2022, has said the numerous cases against him are politically motivated.

Forced to run as independents, PTI’s candidates were unable to hold large rallies, with some candidates in jail, and others in hiding.

The party says that its supporters have been intimidated and picked up by the police while it tries to run its campaign – allegations the authorities have always denied.

Despite all of that, PTI-linked candidates appear to have won more seats than any other group.