Pakistan's ex-PM Nawaz Sharif declares victory in fraught election as opponents claim vote rigging

• The election, voting for which began on Thursday morning, comes at an especially turbulent time for the country of 240 million.
• Known for its decades of volatile politics involving assassinations, imprisonments, and military coups, Pakistan is now in the throes of an economic crisis, and its largest party has been banned from running in the election.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory on Friday in the country's 2024 General Election, one that many Pakistanis and human rights groups are decrying as neither free nor fair.

Sharif, 74, cited the Election Commission of Pakistan in saying that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had won the largest share of the national vote. Multiple media reports said that independent candidates, backed by imprisoned ex-PM Imran Khan, were actually leading at the mid-way point of the vote-counting process.

Polls closed Thursday at 5 p.m. local time after a day of voting that was marred by militant attacks and charges of electoral misconduct. The vote counting was hit by long delays with the Election Commission ordering the immediate release of the results in the early hours of Friday morning after more than 10 hours of waiting.

The election, voting for which began the morning of Feb. 8, comes at an especially turbulent time for the country of 240 million. Known for its decades of volatile politics involving assassinations, imprisonments, and military coups, Pakistan is now in the throes of an economic crisis and its largest party has been banned from running in the election.

The country's 2024 leadership contest is "easily one of the most blatant in terms of the degree of interference by the military," Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, practice head for South