Imran Khan's Party Claims Victory in Disputed Pakistan Vote
- PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif says party rejects election results
- Pakistan stocks rise on bets of a stable Khan-led government
Former cricket star Imran Khan declared victory in Pakistan’s election, boosting stocks as investors bet he’d be able to form a stable government that could address the nation’s financial woes after a vote tarred by rigging allegations.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Movement for Justice, said it has emerged as the single largest party and can form the federal government, Naeem ul Haq, a PTI leader told reporters on Thursday in Islamabad as long-delayed counting continued. An unofficial tally from Dawn newspaper showed the PTI leading in 119 seats, shy of the 137 needed to clinch a majority, though only 49 percent of the vote has been counted. Jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz trailed with 61 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party led in 40, with the other rest split among smaller parties.