Pakistan vote count delay sparks rigging allegations

Nawaz Sharif (left) is tipped to win the poll, while Imran Khan (right) has been barred from contesting. BBC News

Independent candidates backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan have won 21 out of 50 seats in the country's national elections according to counting completed so far, Pakistan's Geo News has reported.

The two PM candidates Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have also won their respective seats in Lahore and Larkana, according to reports.

Results are still trickling in after counting delays which the electoral body has attributed to an "internet issue". A political party needs 133 seats in parliament for a simple majority.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was supposed to announce the results with their newly acquired Election Management System (EMS).

But this system could not operate fully due to the suspension of mobile data networks across Pakistan.

As a result, the wall in the Election Comission's main control room shows only 13 results announced for the National Assembly seats so far while 252 results are still awaited.

The entire room is full of journalists and ECP officials. The ECP is trying to get the figures out after a delay of almost 10 hours.

Usually, once voting ends at 17:00 local time, results would start coming in after midnight, by around 01:00, providing a clear picture of who is winning and losing.

'We are trying to get it right' - electoral body

The election commission's spokeswoman Nighat Siddiq has given assurances that “results will come pouring in soon.”

"We have to ensure that we leave no space for error," she tells the BBC.

When asked her if the delay in results was due to an the alleged conflict between the returning officers and the commission, she replied: “Not at all. We are trying to get it right. I’ll ask everyone to look at the glass as half full.”

Some Pakistanis believe that the returning officers are holding back the results as an act of defiance, or because of fears that the results will be tampered with.

Earlier, the commission's special secretary Zafar Iqbal attributed the vote count delay to an “internet issue”.

BBC Summary: Votes are being counted after yesterday's general election which was marred by the suspension of mobile phone services and violent unrest.

Many analysts say this is among Pakistan's least credible elections and results have been slow to come out compared to previous votes.

Some 44 parties competed for a seat in the National Assembly - but many experts agree there is only one contender for the top job - former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Once viewed as an opponent to Pakistan's powerful military, Mr Sharif is now seen as their preferred candidate in a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

Ex-PM Imran Khan has been barred from standing, after being ousted from power and is now imprisoned on several convictions.

But Imran Khan's popularity has not waned even from behind bars, and many from his PTI party stood as independent candidates.

First-time candidate Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari, son of former leader Benazir Bhutto, is also in the running.

The decision to strip Imran Khan’s PTI party of their cricket bat symbol has been seen as a huge blow to the group - whose candidates have to run as independents, using other symbols.

Symbols are especially important to the 41% of Pakistan’s 241m population who are illiterate.

The PTIs symbol - a cricket bat - is synonymous with Imran Khan himself. A huge cricket star who led the country to its first cricket World Cup in 1992.

Nawaz Sharif's PML-N uses a tiger symbol while Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s PPP uses an arrow.

The website of the electoral body lists 174 symbols that are still up for grabs, including the following - calculator, electric heater, human eye, nail cutter, penguin, sickle, stethoscope and typewriter. – BBC News