Politicians allied with the former prime minister Imran Khan’s party have defied a military-led crackdown and alleged widespread rigging to win the most seats in Pakistan’s election, but opponent Nawaz Sharif claimed victory and said he would form a coalition government.
Candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party run by Khan who is now serving sentences of more than a decade in jail, claimed a stunning victory after Thursday’s polls, defying all expectations that Sharif, a three-time former prime minister, and his Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) would win an easy majority.
Sharif was seen to have the backing of Pakistan’s military, which has long been the country’s political power broker and has a history of meddling in its elections.
Voters across the country, however, appear to have come out in unprecedented numbers to support PTI and Khan. Given the scale of the votes for PTI-backed candidates, according to sources the military was unable to “manage” the results for Sharif as planned.
Then you didn’t read my comment. I’m not for or against a given candidate; I am squarely FOR fair elections.
Also, not every commenter here is American, or even pro-American: who are you to turn every comment into a measure of how pro- or anti-American a comment is?
EVERYONE has a right to their own opinion based on their own experience and culture, including non-Americans and even non-pro-Americans, and there’s not a goddamn “strange” thing about that at all.
No, you misunderstood. I as an American feel odd rooting for the anti-american candidate.
He’s not “Anti-American”. He just doesn’t believe in boot-licking the US and the West. Big difference.
To the Americans - there is no difference.
What? Sure there is. Obfuscation of facts is what leads to a shit media landscape.
Ah, got it. Thanks for the clarification.