Future Imperfect

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Thousands of protesters have blocked highways and gone on strike this week as part of demonstrations against the results of last week’s general election in Pakistan, Al Jazeera reported.

The results of Pakistan’s parliamentary elections released this week showed that allies of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan won most seats standing as independents, a victory that surprised political observers and prompted questions about whether the winners would be able to govern, Vox reported.

Results of the Feb. 8 polls showed that politicians affiliated with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won more than 90 seats in the lower house, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which secured 75 seats.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) came in third with 54 seats.

Analysts said the victory of PTI’s allies caught everyone by surprise because many had expected the military-backed PML-N to win most seats. They added that the electorate’s shift towards PTI-affiliated politicians reflected a broader rejection of the entrenched political establishment and the military itself.

But despite securing a significant number of seats, PTI cannot form a government independently after it was in effect prohibited from running candidates because of a Supreme Court ruling that barred the party from using its electoral symbol – prompting many PTI politicians to run as independents.

Khan has also been banned from politics for 10 years due to criminal convictions, causing speculation over who exactly will lead the country.

Following the election’s outcome, analysts predicted that the new government will consist of a PML-N and PPP coalition with Sharif – who previously served three times as Pakistan’s prime minister but never completed a full term – set to secure another term in office.

However, that coalition is in question after the PPP announced Tuesday that while it would support a government under Sharif, it would not form a coalition with his party, Reuters added.

At the same time, independent candidates affiliated with the PTI cannot form a government on their own because they ran as individuals and not as a party. They have also ruled out forming a coalition with the two parties.

Analysts said the uncertainty over the country’s leadership couldn’t have come at a worse time: Pakistan continues to face economic and security challenges, including record inflation and rising militant violence.