Pakistani military helped PM-elect Imran Khan win election: opposition

Pakistan‘s main opposition party called on Sunday for a judicial investigation into what it said was rigging at an election this week that it lost.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior party leader Khawaja Asif told reporters in Lahore that he demanded the creation of a judicial commission to probe incidents that took place during Wednesday’s (July 25) vote.

Imran Khan‘s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, emerged as the largest single party in the election, defeating the PML-N party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

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READ MORE: Pakistan election results were ‘rigged,’ say winner’s opponents

During the campaign, Sharif said the military had influenced the judiciary to deny him a second term. The military denied this. It has ruled Pakistan for about half the time since the country’s formation in 1947.

PTI did better than expected to win 16.86 million votes and beat PML-N, which got nearly 13 million votes. PTI opened coalition talks with at least one smaller party and independent politicians on Saturday (July 28).

WATCH: Imran Khan calls victory in Pakistan election

1:21 Sports icon Imran Khan calls victory in Pakistan election

European Union observers were critical of the political climate in the run-up to the vote, saying that some parties had been disadvantaged. The United States voiced similar concerns.