Ex-cricket star Imran Khan on his way to the electoral victory in Pakistan

A victory for Mr. Khan's party would break Pakistan's bipartite system and become a new force in national politics. He promised to clean up corruption and provide better education, health and other public services.

Mr. Khan's party, if the first results are good, may have to forge a coalition with one or more other parties to control the country's parliament before Mr. Khan can be appointed prime minister. Thirty percent of the results were counted. Full results are expected Thursday.

Mr. Sharif 's party and at least five other parties immediately complained of rigging, complaining that their representatives were stranded Wednesday in many constituencies, and in some cases intimidated by soldiers. Some 371,000 soldiers were deployed in polling stations for security reasons.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, multi-party politicians and human rights groups alleged that the military had helped Mr. Khan's party campaign. Mr. Khan and the armed forces denied that help was given or received.

Asad Umar,

a senior leader of Mr. Khan's party said Wednesday night that they were not aware of any irregularities in the vote or counting.

"I congratulate the nation," said Umar. "Under the leadership of Imran Khan, Pakistan will become a nation that will not only make us proud, but also the whole world."

The elections were tainted on Wednesday after a suicide bomber hit a polling station in the city of Quetta. in western Pakistan. Police said the attacker was probably a suicide bomber who knocked near a police vehicle parked in front of a polling station in the suburb of Quetta. Beyond the 30 people killed, 35 other victims were in critical condition, said Kamran Kasi, a doctor at the Quetta Civil Hospital. Most of the victims were voters.

The election campaign had already been disrupted by a series of terrorist attacks, with Wednesday's bombing bringing the death toll to more than 200 of all attacks this month. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Wednesday explosion in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, sparsely populated. The militant group also claimed responsibility for the bombing of an election rally in the same province earlier this month that killed 149 people. "1965" is the most important election in Pakistan, said Wednesday Mr. Khan, after voting, suburb of the capital Islamabad. "This is your chance to defeat both parties who have always ruled over you. "

Less than two weeks before the elections, Mr. Sharif was imprisoned for 10 years after being found guilty of bribery and is appealing the verdict which, according to his party, was motivated by political considerations and stemmed from the conflict between Mr. Sharif and the army when he was in power.The judiciary rejects the accusation and says that it operates independently. Sharif had already been deposed from the post of prime minister by a verdict of the court last year

.The candidate of his party to the Pakistan Muslim League is the brother of Mr. Sharif, Shehbaz, who had been minister in head of the key province of Punjab, the party was counting on its stronghold traditional Punjab to return to power.

His campaign blamed the military establishment for stripping the country of its leader, forcing voters to choose between the party and the army. The army is popular in Pakistan, have shown investigations, and it has ruled nearly half of the country's history.