Imran Khan Claims Victory In Pakistan Elections

Pakistan’s former cricket star Imran Khan has claimed victory in his country’s parliamentary elections.

Khan’s statement came amid slow counting of ballots after an election marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence.

Election officials said an official count confirming Pakistan’s next government was expected later in the evening.

More than a dozen TV channels in Pakistan, based on official but partial counts, were projecting using their own, undisclosed methodologies that Khan was getting as many as 119 seats of the 270 parliament seats that were contested.

The remainder in the 342-seat lower house of parliament included reserved seats for women and minorities.

Voting for two seats was postponed after one candidate died during the campaign and another was disqualified.

It still wasn’t clear whether Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would get a simple majority or have to form a coalition. Television projections give his party 61 seats.

In a tweet on his official page, Sharif said “our democratic process has been pushed back by decades”, adding that “had the public mandate been delivered in a fair manner, we would have accepted it happily.”