BBC News:
Pakistanis still do not know which party will form their next government or who their next prime minister will be four days after the hotly-contested general elections.
Despite former PM Imran Khan’s detention and the many hurdles thrown at his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), independent candidates backed by the party stunned observers by winning 93 of 256 National Assembly seats, the most by any party. However it is far short of the 169-strong simple majority required to form a government.
The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) of former PM Nawaz Sharif came in second with 75 seats. He was seen to have the backing of the country’s powerfulmilitary and had been expected to coast to victory, five years after he left Pakistan in disgrace.
The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), led by political blue blood Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, came in third with 54 seats.
The constitution dictates that political parties must form a government by 29 February, or three weeks after election day. The National Assembly has a total of 366 seats, of which 266 are decided by direct voting and 70 are reserved – 60 for women and 10 for non-Muslims – and these are allocated according to the strength of each party in the assembly.
“It’s a fragmented mandate where none of the parties have a simple majority. And yet they will have to find a common ground or form a coalition to exist,” political analyst Rafiullah Kakar told BBC Urdu from Islamabad.
While both the PTI and PML-N have declared victory, a coalition government appears inevitable. As wrangling continues, independent candidates who did not win have flooded courts with vote-rigging allegations. Supporters of PTI have also staged protests outside Election Commission offices across the country.
So what comes next? There are a few possible scenarios:
