Imran Khan must now form a coalition government in Pakistan

It is official: The Pakistani Electoral Commission said Friday the party of former cricketer Imran Khan, winner of the third consecutive election of the civilian government in Pakistan, but he did not not obtained an absolute majority and must form a coalition government After two days of tedious counting of votes, Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party won 109 of the 269 contested seats in the National Assembly with its closest rival, Pakistani Muslim League Shahbaz Sharif, winning 63 seats. Sharif, who heads the party of former imprisoned premier Nawaz Sharif, has previously dismissed the results accusing widespread fraud and manipulation.

In Pakistan, where a British parliamentary system was set up, voters elected MPs on Wednesday. Fawad Chaudhry, spokesman for Khan 's party, said efforts were already underway to form a coalition, looking for independents and allies, but that the process would probably take several days. Yet on Thursday, Khan, 65, made his first speech to the nation stating that his party was victorious on the basis of screenings

"Today in front of you, in front of the Pakistani people, I promise to lead Pakistan, "said Mr. Khan, vowing to eliminate corruption, to strengthen the institutions that he describes as dysfunctional and to regain national pride by developing international relations based on respect and Equality

to go before the national and provincial governments of Pakistan are in place and Khan can set on his agenda.

His opponents and rights groups accuse widespread fraud and mass manipulation has given to Khan's party his victory.They allege the involvement of the powerful Pakistani army and his intelligence agency known as ISI.Ka Khan rejected these allegations, claiming that the ballot was the most transparent 71-year history of the country, which was dominated by military interference, directly or indirectly.

The third place in the contest of the National Assembly went to the left of the center People's Party of Pakistan with 39 seats. The results of 20 seats were still counted Friday but they will not change the result. The Pakistan National Assembly has 342 seats, but only 272 are directly elected by voters. In the Wednesday election, three seats were not contested because one candidate died, another was disqualified and a third was declared. The rest of the parliament goes to seats reserved for women and minorities.

A mixture of small parties and independent candidates that Khan will have to court to form a coalition won the remaining seats in the Pakistani National Assembly. The Electoral Commission indicated that the counting of votes was still ongoing in 20 remote areas of the country, offering the long-time politician the opportunity to have more seats but not an absolute majority.

Add chaos to Sharif, who rejected the election The results won the majority of seats in Pakistan's most powerful Punjab province. His party won 127 of the provincial parliament's 297 seats, while Khan's PTI won 117 seats, not giving an absolute majority and forcing both to try to form a coalition government. The Punjab Parliament is important because Punjab is Pakistan's largest province, with 60% of the country's 200 million inhabitants. If Khan wants to implement his broad reform agenda, his party must control the Punjab Parliament.

Khan's party wins overwhelming majority in the conservative Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, while the Pakistani People's Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto's son, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, won the most seats in the provincial legislature of southern Sindh. The largest Pakistani city of Karachi and the financial center of the country is the provincial capital of Sindh.

The Baluchistan province, agitated by militant violence, has been won by a coalition of small parties to form a coalition to govern.

It will probably be days of negotiations before the composition of the Pakistan National Assembly and four provincial parliaments are clear and the maneuvers will be closely monitored by Pakistan's neighbors as well as by regional powers like China, Russia and the United States. Thursday revealed a clear vision for Pakistan's future international relations.

While he seemed relaxed and conciliatory, his lyrics were full of passion. He said that the United States treated Pakistan as a mercenary, giving it billions of dollars to fight the war on terror in an area besieged by militant extremists

"Unfortunately, until now, our relations were unilateral, Pakistan has suffered a great deal, "said Khan, who criticized the US-led conflict in neighboring Afghanistan.

There was nothing to suggest an improvement in the already tense relationship between Pakistan and Washington. The tweets of President Donald Trump in January accusing Islamabad of taking American help and making only lies and deceptions.

Seeking good relations with his neighbors, Khan went to rival Pakistani, neighboring India. The two nuclear powers have had a long-term conflict over the disputed region of Kashmir

"Take a step towards us and we will take two steps towards you", he said in an offer of peace while denouncing the violations of human rights. in Kashmir

Khan also advocated an open border policy with Afghanistan, even suggesting that both countries adopt a "European Union" type of relationship. The plan seems improbable, the Pakistani army already building hundreds of border outposts and a barrier along its western border with Afghanistan despite the violent opposition of Kabul

. Moderate voices seem to have prevailed: none of the 265 candidates presented by the outlaw Lashkar-e-Taiba got siege. This includes the son of US-appointed co-founder and terrorist Hafiz Saeed, who has a $ 10 million bonus on his head. The candidates campaigned under the little-known Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek party because Lashkar-e-Taiba is banned.

– AP