Islamabad, Pakistan:
Beneath huge wall-mounted photos of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Naila Khan Marwat cheered with dozens of young volunteers on election night whenever tallies on TV channels suggested their candidate was leading.
She then returned to her laptop to collect complaints about alleged election rule violations from candidates, along with 50 other young women to give to party lawyers who launched legal challenges.
Marwat, 26, worked at the party headquarters in the Pakistani capital into the early hours of Friday, keeping a close eye on the results, a more confusing than usual task after former cricket hero Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters were barred from participating as PTI candidates and using the cricket bat party symbol. They had to operate as independents.
“We have memorized all the symbols and all the names of our candidates,” said Marwat, a law student. “We know every candidate and every symbol.”
Pakistan voted on Thursday in a critical general election as it struggles to recover from an economic crisis and battles violence in a deeply polarized political environment.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory on Friday, saying his party had become the largest and would talk to other groups to form a coalition government.
The final results were unclear due to an unusual counting delay, but the independent parties, most backed by PTI, were the largest group with 92 of the 225 seats counted at 1600 GMT. They did much better than expected and surprised many.
Khan was removed from power in 2022, jailed in August and has been banned from participating in politics for several years on a series of corruption and criminal charges.
PTI's strong performance indicates a possible protest element driving the rise and continued resilience of Khan's support, analysts said. They fear that if the independents cannot form a government on their own, their large numbers could make Pakistan more unstable.
PTI supporters said the playing field was unfair, including a day-long cut in mobile services during polls on security grounds after a series of militant attacks. The PTI relies heavily on its social media presence, including automated social media responses that helped citizens find their polling booths and PTI-backed candidates.
Pakistan's election commission has said it will investigate allegations of violations.
“PTI is certainly here to stay. It may have been hollowed out and cut to size, but… its support base remains large and loyal,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute. “Khan remains a force to be reckoned with, even from his prison cell.”
Young, sustainable supporters
That support base, which is at odds with powerful army generals, has faced military-backed repression. The party claims the crackdown ahead of Thursday's vote accelerated because the military tried to keep the party out of the race, a charge the army denies.
Some analysts and voters have said public perception of military involvement in politics has driven Khan supporters to the polls, along with frustration over months of rising inflation and anger over Khan's three prison sentences.
“One of the reasons the military may be concerned is that there are signs of some real grassroots support,” said Maya Tudor, associate professor at the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, adding the suspension of mobile services on election day. Authorities had reassured people that there would be no general communications disruptions, a possible sign of concern.
Marwat, the law student, said she joined PTI in 2016 and cast her first vote in 2018, drawn by the PTI leader, who she said was “loyal” to Pakistan. Khan's punishments have galvanized her and many of her peers, she said.
“Haven't you seen the other great leaders? Like Nelson Mandela? …There are so many great leaders who have been in prison and they are suffering a lot,” she said. “But things are changing.”
Pakistan's elections have long been marred by allegations of rigging and the jailing of political figures. While the turbulence is not new, analysts and supporters say PTI's responsive campaign, which cuts across demographics, is.
With its celebrity sportsman figurehead and social media presence, PTI is also popular among Pakistan's huge youth population, which grows every election cycle. The Dawn newspaper estimated that Pakistan has added 10 million euros since the 2018 elections.
One of them, software engineering student Nayaba Akhtar, 21, said she was inspired to vote for a PTI-backed independent party.
“It feels great,” she said. “I am sad that Imran Khan is not here, but I am happy that my first vote is for Imran Khan.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)