al jazeera

By Faras Ghani and Usaid Siddiqui

     Early results show PMLN, PPP and PTI candidates fighting a close battle.

    Results started to trickle in nearly 12 hours after polling for national and provincial assemblies ended on Thursday.

    The polls were marred by violence by armed groups and a widely criticised suspension of mobile phone services that prompted accusations of “political engineering”.
   At least 12 people were killed and 39 wounded nationwide during attacks aimed at disrupting the vote, the military says.

    A new reality in Pakistan?

    Niloufer Siddiqui, author of the book Under the Gun: Political Parties and Violence in Pakistan, has described the projected election trends favouring PTI-backed independent candidates as a “shocking” and “potentially seismic” development.

    “If the early trends are accurate, this performance by the PTI – with their leader in jail, without their election symbol, and with restrictions on campaigning – is nothing short of spectacular,” Siddiqui told Al Jazeera.

    Siddiqui, who is also an assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany, State University of New York, pointed out that it is currently unclear whether the vote for PTI-affiliated independents was in favour of the PTI, against the incumbent parties, or a symbolic move against the military.

    “But whatever the independent motivation for each vote cast, very few would have guessed that the late hours of February 8 would bring these results,” she said. “I think we are in for more instability and uncertainty over the short term, as the various power-holders scramble to make sense of this new reality.”