Pakistan is in disarray as disputes, court cases, and protests are sparked by the debate over election results

Following an election tainted by violence and accusations of manipulation, Pakistani courts were deluged with legal challenges on Saturday as candidates questioned the provisional results in their seats.

According to the Dawn newspaper, PTI-backed independents made up the bulk of individuals submitting these challenges. They argue that their wins were reversed into losses. These judicial proceedings coincide with the government-forming plans of contenders supported by imprisoned PTI leader Imran Khan. A Supreme Court case has been filed for elected independent candidates to officially join a political party within three days of receiving their victory announcement.

The three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has urged to other political parties to work together to help cash-strapped Pakistan out of its present predicament, and as a result, the PML-N is also trying to establish a unity government. Given that no one party has enough seats to form a government, analysts predict the formation of a coalition administration.

ELECTIONS’ CREDIBILITY?
On Thursday, the 241 million citizens of the country cast ballots in a general election, taking place against the backdrop of intense political division, economic hardship, and militant bloodshed. Unexpectedly, independent candidates supported by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are said to have taken the majority of the 102 seats in the National Assembly.

The legitimacy of the election outcome has been called into doubt by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), which has highlighted the tardiness in the production and release of preliminary election results. Years of legislative attempts to modernize the election results management process were compromised, according to Fafen’s preliminary assessment, by the government’s decision to suspend internet and cellphone connections on election day, regardless of security concerns.

“PTI IS GOVT TO FORM”
The leader of Khan’s PTI party and the former prime minister’s attorney, Gohar Khan, urged “all institutions” in Pakistan to uphold the party’s mandate. During a news conference, he said that the party would stage nonviolent protests on Sunday outside government buildings that revealed the election results throughout the nation if the full poll results were not made public by Saturday night. Gohar said that because the PTI has a majority in the National Assembly, President Alvi will extend an invitation to them to form the government. He said that elections for 170 National Assembly seats had been won by the PTI. On the other hand, the official results show that the party has secured 100 seats.

After an election that produced no obvious victor, Pakistan’s army commander on Saturday urged rival parties to display “maturity and unity.” Pakistan’s political landscape is heavily influenced by the military, which is said to be supporting Nawaz. Generals have ruled the nation for over half of its existence since its 1947 separation from India. In a military statement, Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir said, “Elections are not a zero-sum competition of winning and losing but an exercise to determine the mandate of the people.”

It is now required of all political parties to respond to the people of Pakistan’s collective faith in the country’s Constitution with political maturity and unity. “The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarization which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people,” the statement reads.