Imran Khan wins Pakistan polls, needs coalition

International Desk: The official results of the Pakistan general elections have given victory to cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, according to reports. Mr Khan will, however, need to stitch an alliance to form a coalition government.

Results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan today morning showed PTI had won 110 seats out of the 251 races where counting had ended. The National Assembly has 272 seats in total and the halfway mark is 137 for a simple majority.

Mr Khan's direct rival and jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party PML-N won 63 seats.

The left-of-centre Pakistan People's Party or PPP led by Bilawal Bhutto, son of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto, won 42 seats.

Results from 21 seats are still being counted, reports said.

Although Imran Khan appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for a majority in the National Assembly, his better-than-expected results mean he should have no problems forming a government with a handful of small coalition partners.

During a presidential style address on Thursday night, Imran Khan offered to investigate opposition claims of rigging and vowed to improve relations with India and Afghanistan, while calling for "mutually beneficial" ties with the US.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/July 27, 2018/Nasim