Pakistan awaits final results 3 days after elections were held

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Results have not been declared closed Sunday as the election commission said it is still compiling results in several constituencies after three days of counting votes in Pakistan's crucial elections.

The Election Commission of Pakistan announced that 258 out of 264 direct seats were won in the lower house, or the National Assembly.

Election in two constituencies will be held later due to the death of one candidate, and incomplete polling, respectively.

Independent candidates, mostly supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. are ahead of two major parties -- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and three-time former Premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), according to provisional results.

The independents have won 103 seats, followed by the PML-N with 77 and PPP grabbing 54.

The Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), a regional party based in the commercial hubs of Karachi and Hyderabad, surprisingly won 17 National Assembly seats.

More than 20 seats have been won by regional and religiopolitical parties.

Geo News said 93 out of 102 independents belong to the PTI.

Four independent candidates announced Saturday they joined the PML(N), raising the party's strength to 77 in the lower house.

A party requires 169 seats in the 336-member National Assembly to form a government with a simple majority.