In the message, which is usually delivered by word through his lawyers, Khan, 71, rejected Sharif’s claim to victory, congratulated his supporters on “winning” the election and urged them to celebrate and protect their vote.

“I trusted that you all would come out to vote – and you honoured that trust and your massive turnout has shocked everyone,” the message said, adding no one would accept Sharif’s claim because he had won fewer seats and because there had been rigging in the polls.

Former cricket superstar Khan has been in jail since August, and was convicted three times in six days in the leadup to the polls for 10, 14 and seven years in cases related to state secrets, graft and unlawful marriage.

Sharif, 74, a three-time former premier, returned from four years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom late last year, having contested the last election from a jail cell on a graft conviction.

He was considered the front-runner to lead the country, having buried a long-running feud with the powerful military.

Sharif said his party would have preferred to win a majority of its own but in the absence of that would get in touch with others to open negotiations.

In its first reaction, a senior aide of Khan said his party leaders would hold talks among themselves and also meet Khan in jail to discuss the results.

Results of the vote have been unusually delayed, which the caretaker government ascribed to the suspension of mobile phone services - a security measure ahead of the election.

Independent members cannot form a government on their own under Pakistan’s complex election system which also includes reserved seats that will be allotted to parties based on their winnings.

But independents have the option to join any party after the elections.

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The military has dominated the nuclear-armed country either directly or indirectly in its 76 years of independence from Britain but for several years it has maintained it does not interfere in politics. Analysts say a coalition government will struggle to tackle multiple challenges - foremost being seeking a new bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund after the current arrangement expires in three weeks.

A coalition government “would probably be unstable, weak” and “the big loser ... will be the army”, said Marvin Weinbaum, Director of Afghanistan and Pakistan Studies at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

“Because the army really has staked its reputation on its ability to deliver this vote.”

The election was expected to help resolve the crises Pakistan has been dealing with but a fractured verdict “could very well be the basis for even deeper exposure to forces which would create instability”, he said.

Reuters

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