PML-N had won 69 and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) snapped up 51, with the final 20 or so seats of the elected 266-seat National Assembly still to be announced.Further unelected seats will be allotted to religious minorities and female candidates at a later date.Most of the seats won by Khan loyalists were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where police said at least two PTI supporters were killed Friday and more than 20 wounded when they protested in Shangla district — the first serious post-election violence reported.There were also protests against allegedly rigged results in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Quetta in Balochistan province.”Our results have been changed,” claimed 28-year-old shopkeeper Muhammad Saleem, who joined around 2,000 PTI supporters marching in Peshawar.”The government should recount all of our votes.”‘Silver lining’Sharif’s PML-N had been expected to win the most seats, with analysts saying its 74-year-old founder had the blessing of the military-led establishment.Khan was barred from contesting the election after being handed several lengthy prison sentences in the days leading up to the vote.A nationwide election day mobile telephone blackout and slow result counting led to suspicions the military-led establishment was influencing the process to ensure Sharif’s success.Candidates who run as independents cannot form a government on their own, but can nominate affiliation to elected parties within 72 hours of victory.The practice frequently leads to deal-making in Pakistan politics, which could dilute PTI’s success.”PTI as a party and political group, despite significant efforts by the civilian and military establishment, has held on to its vote bank,” said Bilal Gilani, executive director of polling group Gallup Pakistan.”It shows that the military does not always get their way — that is the silver lining,” he told AFP.
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