Delay in poll results due to 'lack of communication', says Pak interior ministry

The unusual delay in announcing the results of the just-concluded election in Pakistan was due to a "lack of communication", which was a result of preventive measures taken to ensure foolproof security, the interior ministry said on Friday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the first results of the 2024 polls in the early hours of Friday, more than 10 hours after voting ended amid allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown.

The delay in election results is due to "lack of communication, which was a result of preventive measures taken to ensure foolproof security", the ministry said in a post on X.

The ministry added that the media and the public's concerns about the late processing of the results have been reviewed.

The delay was assessed and the situation is now "satisfactory", it said.

Independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party seemed to have sprung a surprise as the results of the general elections started trickling in on Friday following the unusual delay.

The ECP so far officially uploaded only four results of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assembly, which all were won by the PTI-backed independents. The commission has not uploaded even a single result of the National Assembly (NA) or other provinces.

However, private media channels showed that PTI-backed candidates were in the lead.