"We don't have enough of a majority to form a government without the support of others and we invite allies to join the coalition so we can make joint efforts to pull Pakistan out of its problems."

Following his party's defeat by independent candidates supported by Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, announced on Friday that he would pursue the formation of a coalition administration.

In order to invite other party leaders to join the alliance, Sharif informed his followers that he would be sending his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, a former premier, to meet with them.

Only a day before, Nawaz Sharif had informed reporters that he wanted a single party to govern Pakistan for the whole five-year term, firmly rejecting the notion of a coalition.

In the eastern city of Lahore, he declared, "We don't have enough of a majority to form a government without the support of others and we invite allies to join the coalition so we can make joint efforts to pull Pakistan out of its problems." In addition, he invited independent candidates running for legislative office to join the alliance.

"With those who are in the mood for fighting, I don't want to fight," he said. "To resolve all issues, we must get together and have a meeting."

In light of allegations by Khan's followers and a national rights organization that the voting process was rigged against them, he commented after results from earlier on Friday revealed that candidates supported by the jailed Khan were ahead in the contest.

Due to prior criminal convictions, Khan—a former cricket star who is now an Islamist politician with a sizable grassroots following—was unable to compete in Thursday's election. He claims political motivations were behind his sentencing and the several court lawsuits that are still ongoing against him.

After being prohibited from using the party emblem, a cricket bat, to make themselves easier to spot on ballots for voters without literacy, the candidates of his party were compelled to run as independents.

Ninety seats of the 221 National Assembly results that the election supervision body had released by Friday night were won by candidates associated with Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI. With 62 seats, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party was the prime minister for three terms.

It was premature for any party to declare victory because results for 45 further seats were still pending and there remained a third big party to consider.

However, Sharif's family members and supporters continued to appear on a balcony at the party headquarters and wave to the gatherings below in the absence of a majority. When Sharif arrived to address the party workers, they showered his car with rose petals.

According to PTI chairman Gohar Khan, the party has secured 150 seats overall, which is sufficient to establish a government, but a majority of 169 members is needed in the 336-seat National Assembly, or lower house of parliament. Khan made this government to Pakistani television station Geo.

Given the challenges Khan's party faced, observers had anticipated that the Pakistan Muslim League would win and set Sharif up for another term as prime minister. In addition to serving time in prison and receiving more convictions, Khan's party was prohibited from conducting online events, establishing campaign offices, or hosting rallies by election authorities and law enforcement.

According to the PTI, the actions were taken to keep them from running in the election and building support among voters.

Sharif's most likely coalition partner would be the Pakistan People's Party of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was in third place with 51 seats. Final results are expected by midnight.

Pakistan's deeply divided political climate is unlikely to produce a strong coalition pushing for the betterment of the country, grappling with high inflation, year-round energy outages, and militant attacks. Sharif’s rivals, including Bhutto-Zardari, criticized him on the campaign trail so the coalition he seeks is apparently aimed at keeping Khan in prison and the PTI out of politics.

Sporadic violence and an unprecedented nationwide cellphone service shutdown overshadowed Thursday's voting.

The chief election commissioner previously said the results would be communicated to the oversight body by early Friday and released to the public after that, but this started only at midday. The Interior Ministry attributed the delay to a “lack of connectivity” resulting from security precautions.

The results of Thursday's voting for the nation's four provincial legislatures have also been made public by the Election Commission. More than fifteen hours after the voting closed, the commission published the findings on its website.

The situations that faced Khan and Sharif on election day signified a turnabout in their lives. After going into self-imposed exile overseas for four years in order to escape facing prison terms, Sharif returned to Pakistan in October. His sentences were reversed a few weeks after he returned, allowing him to run for a fourth term.

End//voice7news.tv