Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif waves to supporters in Lahore on May 11, 2013.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) has won Saturdayâ„¢s parliamentary election.
“Results are still coming in, but this much is confirmed: we’re the single largest party so far,” Sharif said during a speech to jubilant supporters in Lahore on Saturday night.
“We should thank Allah that he has given PML-N another chance to serve you and Pakistan,” the PML-N leader stated.
“Please pray that by morning we’re in a position that we don’t need the crutch of coalition partners,” he added.
With the vote count still underway, projections show that the PML-N is leading in 119 of the 272 National Assembly seats that were contested.
Pakistan held elections on Saturday for 272 directly elected seats of the National Assembly. An additional 70 seats — 60 for women and 10 for non-Muslims – will be allocated on the basis of a partyâ„¢s share in the directly elected seats.
Elections for a total of 577 seats in the four provincial assemblies were also held on the same day.
About 86 million people were eligible to vote in the election.
According to Pakistani Chief Election Commissioner Fakharuddin Ebrahim, turnout was about 60 percent, which is the highest since 1977.
“Nearly 60 percent of people took part in the voting process,” Ebrahim told reporters in Islamabad on Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on : Press TV