ISLAMABAD – The European Union Election Observation Mission chief MichaelGahler on Friday said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad onFriday that results were still expected from several constituencies,however, this won’t damage the electoral process.
Gahler said that they do not have interest in the results but instead theyhave interest in the electoral process.
In its initial findings on this week s Pakistani parliamentary elections,the EU Election Observation Mission concluded that polling was relativelytransparent.
The EU observer chief went on to say that Pakistani military had notinterfered in the voting process.
“On election day, polling was assessed as well conducted and transparent,”he said. “However, counting was somewhat problematic with staff not alwaysfollowing the procedures.”
Meanwhile, the latest Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officialpartial results showed Khan s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or PakistanMovement for Justice party, had won 116 seats out of the National Assemblyhas 272 seats in total.
Although Khan appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for amajority in the National Assembly, his better-than-expected results mean heshould have no problems forming a government with a handful of smallcoalition partners.
One of the first tasks for Khan, once he forms the government, will be toavert a currency crisis, which follows four devaluations of the rupeecurrency since December, and will likely require Islamabad to seekPakistan s second International Monetary Fund bailout since 2013.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had 64 seats, the results showed. ThePakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son ofassassinated two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was third with 43seats.