After his party failed to secure a clear majority on its own, former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory in Friday’s national elections, claiming to have formed the largest and offering to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition government.
After polling concluded on Thursday, marred by the deaths of 28 people in militant attacks, more than three-quarters of the 265 seats had declared results when Sharif made his announcement.

Out of the 225 seats counted by 1600 GMT, the results indicated that independents, the majority of whom were supported by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, had won the most- 92 out of 225.

The Pakistan People’s Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the assassinated premier Benazir Bhutto’s son, received 50 votes, while Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) received 64. Small parties and other independents won the remaining seats.

Having put an end to a protracted conflict with the formidable military, Nawaz Sharif was regarded as the front-runner to lead the nation. Although Sharif’s party would have preferred to win a majority on its own, he said that in the event that that didn’t happen, he would contact other parties—including PPP’s former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Sharif, 74, a three-time former premier, returned from four years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom late last year.

Meanwhile , a senior aide of former prime minister Imran Khan said leaders of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party would hold talks among themselves and also meet Khan in jail on Saturday to discuss the results, Geo News reported.