Islamabad sources reported that Imran Khan inched closer to power today after a general election that has been marred by long delays in ballot counting and claims of rigging by opponents. Meanwhile with nearly half the votes counted from Wednesday's election, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, was in a commanding lead in the nuclear-armed, Muslim nation.
Accordingly with 48% of the total vote counted, Khan's PTI was listed by the ECP in its provisional results as leading in 113 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was ahead in 64 constituencies, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), led by the son of assassinated two times Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, led in 42 constituencies.
Reports added that shares
in Pakistan rose to their highest in more than three weeks in early trade
today, while the Pakistani rupee traded firmer at the open as the nation awaits
general election results. Furthermore with Imran Khan leading in a partial
count, the benchmark index was up 1.6% at 42,023.57 by 0542 GMT, giving up some
of its gains shortly after the opening, when it was up as much as 1.9%.
