- Pakistan is counting votes in a General elections 2024 rocked by armed groups’ violence and the suspension of mobile phone service.
- At least nine people have been slain around the country during the election, including two children and six security officials.
- After voting closes at 5 p.m. (12:00 GMT), TV outlets are likely to project the initial results.
- As counting continues throughout the night, a clear image is expected to emerge early Friday. Many observers believe there may not be a clear winner.
Surprising Trend Earlier – Elections 2024
Early unofficial results show a tendency in favor of independent candidates affiliated with the PTI and loyal to Imran Khan.
This outcome is surprising, given suspicions about election manipulation and tales of long lines preventing many people from voting. Nonetheless, voter turnout has been high in several regions around the country.
According to reports, some independent candidates linked with the PTI are leading, while the process is still in its early stages. While the trend looks encouraging for the PTI, it will take a few more hours to determine the actual results.
Unofficial voting trends begin to emerge – Elections 2024
Six hours after the polls were officially closed, Pakistan’s Election Commission has failed to declare official results.
Typically, figures from individual polling stations are combined to calculate the total number of votes cast for each candidate. While it may take some weeks to collect results from all polling stations in a constituency, early trends frequently appear. When a contender has a substantial lead, projections can be made with only 30% of the votes counted.
According to reports from local major media sites, unofficial voting trends indicate that independent PTI candidates are posing a significant challenge to their primary adversary, the PMLN, as well as other parties.
However, some commentators see parallels to the delay encountered during Pakistan’s last general election in 2018, when the Result Transmission System failed. When the results were announced the next day, accusations of vote manipulation erupted, resulting in PTI leader Imran Khan being declared the winner.
Interesting fact in the 77 Years of History of Pakistan
Throughout Pakistan’s 77-year existence, no prime minister has completed a full five-year tenure. Prime ministers have frequently been removed for a variety of reasons, including corruption charges, military coups, forced resignations due to internal tensions within governing coalitions, and even assassination.
Some prime ministers have simply served as caretakers, supervising new elections or completing the term of a fired prime minister. The year 1993 was very eventful, with five changes in prime ministership.
Protect Your Vote: Insights from Imran Khan’s X Account – Elections 2024
“A message sent on Imran Khan’s official account asks supporters to hold peaceful vigils outside the offices responsible for releasing the results of each seat.
“Guard your vote tonight,” the message said.
Voters speak About Politicians – Elections 2024
Throughout the day, our correspondents have been speaking with people across Pakistan to get their opinion on the elections.
Khalid Taimur, a tour guide via in Lahore, stated his support for Nawaz Sharif, citing infrastructure improvements launched during his reign. “He provided us with roads, buses, trains, and other infrastructure developments that significantly improved the lives of ordinary citizens,” said the 52-year-old after voting in Elections 2024.
In Lahore, teacher Ayesha Siddiqua underlined her everlasting support for Imran Khan, expressing her affection for him since his cricket career and the construction of a cancer hospital in 1994. “For me, he can do no wrong,” she said after voting.
Meanwhile, voters in Karachi expressed concern regarding absentee polling personnel and delayed voting processes, with Elhaam Shaikh revealing her dissatisfaction after numerous unsuccessful efforts to vote owing to disorganization at polling locations of Elections 2024.
Muteeba Naz, 21, voted for the first time in Quetta, highlighting the significance of combating inflation and terrorism, especially in light of recent tragedies in Balochistan. “The next government must prioritize tackling these issues,” she went on to say.
The Pakistan army reports that 12 individuals have been killed in attacks on election-related activities – Elections 2024
The Pakistani military has issued a statement stating that at least 12 people, mostly security officials, were killed and 39 others were injured in strikes intended to disrupt the elections.
According to the army’s public relations system, ISPR, 51 “cowardly terrorist attacks,” primarily in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, took place on election day. The message further said that five attackers had been neutralized.
Despite these instances, the army congratulated the country on the generally peaceful and violence-free conduct of the general elections.
The statement underlined the deployment of 137,000 army personnel and civil armed forces at around 6,000 of the most crucial voting sites, as well as over 7,800 Quick Reaction Forces (QRFs), to safeguard the public’s safety and security. It also stated that various potential dangers were successfully handled.
What happens next? – Elections 2024
Television channels are expected to broadcast the first results within a few hours, with a better picture emerging early Friday as counting continues through the night.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul-Haq Kakar commented on the high voter turnout, calling it “a clear indication of public commitment to shaping the future of our country.”
The national legislature has 265 seats, with voting postponed in one seat due to the death of a candidate. A party needed 133 seats for a simple majority, but many observers believe the poll will not produce a clear winner.
Disabling the internet on election day is unacceptable – Elections 2024
Both Access Now and the Committee to Protect Journalists have strongly condemned the suspension of mobile services, calling for the quick and total restoration of internet access.
Felicia Anthonio, Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign manager, claimed that “completely shutting down access to mobile communications on voting day, especially, is unacceptable. Pakistanis require internet connectivity to enable a free, fair, and inclusive election. The move by authorities to restrict access to information jeopardizes the credibility of Pakistan’s elections.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has stated that the shutdown will not have an impact on the results compilation.
Imran Khan’s agents not allowed in polling in Punjab booths: Elections 2024
Zulfi Bukhari, an adviser to the PTI’s founder, has made some further observations.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Bukhari said that polling agents linked with Khan’s party were denied entrance to polling booths across Punjab, leaving the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party without representation.
Bukhari underlined the need of polling agents being present during the vote counting process to ensure proper oversight.
Elections 2024 – Mobile networks still down
Previously, we supplied you with the Interior Ministry’s announcement on the partial return of mobile phone services.
Our colleagues in Karachi and Quetta have informed us that internet and mobile phone communication remain inaccessible.
We are constantly watching the situation and will provide more updates.
As previously stated, the move to block mobile networks has sparked condemnation from both opposition parties and human rights organizations.
Elections 2024 – Key players in General Elections 2024
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 35
- Pakistan’s foreign minister until late last year, when a caretaker administration took office.
- Son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007 during election campaign.
- His father, Asif Ali Zardari, was Pakistan’s president from 2008 until 2013.
- His Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) centered its campaign on the country’s youth and the effects of climate change.
Imran Khan, 71
- Former Prime Minister celebrating the election from a jail cell
- Cricket star-turned-politician has been in prison since August and earned multi-year bans from participating in politics on a litany of corruption and criminal charges.
- Khan rejects the charges, and his lawyers say he’s appealing his sentence.
- His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party registered members as independents after the election commission said it couldn’t run and stripped it of its famed cricket bat insignia.
Nawaz Sharif, 74
- A three-time former prime minister, who returned from a self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom late last year, made headlines by contesting the previous election from a jail cell.
- Despite convictions for corruption, which he passionately rejects, and a lifetime ban from politics, courts have overturned these decisions.
- His Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party has said that he intends to serve a fourth term as prime minister with the goal of rejuvenating the country’s lagging economy and reducing inflation.
Real test of Pakistan will Begins after Elections 2024
Pakistan held national elections on Thursday, four months after they were initially scheduled, amid a pre-poll crackdown on former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party and an atmosphere of political and economic uncertainty.
However, commentators warn that the main test of Pakistan’s democratic experiment will begin after the elections, when a new administration would face a slew of obstacles and questions about its legitimacy.
Read more about how Pakistan’s real test will begin following the elections.
