Vote counting in Pakistan elections, marred by allegations of fraud and militant violence, has been tediously slow, yet from the outset cricket star Imran Khan and his party have maintained a commanding lead.
Election officials said it will be 26 July evening before an official count confirms Pakistan's next government. But before even half the votes were counted, Khan's supporters were seen rejoicing.
Leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League — the party of jailed ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif — rejected the vote, generating fears that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government.
Throughout the night, Khan supporters celebrated outside party offices countrywide. Most of the revellers were young men, who danced to the sound of beating drums draped in Tehreek-e-Insaf party black and green-coloured flags.
Khan, who is a cricket legend of almost mythical proportions, has appealed to the youth with promises of a new Pakistan. According to the United Nations, 65 percent of Pakistan's 200 million people are under 30 years old.
Cameras followed Khan into the polling station where he voted on 25 July. But video images of his smiling image marking his ballot landed him in trouble with the Pakistan Election Commission. Its spokesman Nadeem Qasim told The Associated Press that Khan violated constitutional provisions on "the secrecy of the ballot paper and his vote could be disqualified because he cast his ballot in front of TV cameras."
Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president of the Asia Center at the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, said the top challenge for the next government will be the economic crisis.
"The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, as he is not the preferred prime minister for Pakistan's two traditional chief patrons, China and the US," he said.
Khan has been an outspoken critic of the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan as well as China's massive investment in Pakistan, which has racked up millions of dollars in debt to Beijing.
Khan is also likely to be met with trepidation in neighboring Afghanistan, where he has been vocal in his opposition to the US-led invasion that followed the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.
(The story has been edited for length.)
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