Pakistan's imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan declared victory in Thursday's general election and called on his supporters to celebrate.
Independent candidates with ties to him have so far won most of the seats, with a majority declared.
But another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said his party had emerged as the largest and was urging others to join the coalition.
No group or party has emerged with the momentum to win an overall majority. Final results have not yet been announced.
In a resolute video message posted to Created using AI, Khan claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had won a “landslide victory” despite what he called a crackdown on the party.
He is currently in prison after being convicted in a case he claims was politically motivated.
The success of the PTI-linked candidates was unexpected, with most experts agreeing that Mr. Sharif, who is believed to be backed by the country's powerful military, is the clear favorite.
However, since the PTI is prohibited from running in elections and is not an officially recognized political party, technically the PML-N, led by Sharif, is the largest official political organization.
So the political game has now begun in earnest, meaning it may be some time before anyone can claim complete victory.
In a speech on Friday, Sharif acknowledged that he did not have the numbers to form a government on his own. However, addressing his supporters outside the party's headquarters in the city of Lahore, he urged other candidates to join the coalition government, saying it could lead the country out of difficult times.
Mr Khan's former special assistant, Zulifkar Bukhari, appeared on the BBC's Newsnight program on Friday and said: “I know Mr Imran Khan and I know the spirit of our party, the PTI, so I don't think we can do anything.'' “I don't think we will form a coalition or form a government with any political party,” he said. of the major political parties.
“But we are going to form a coalition… to enter parliament, not as independent, but under one flag, under one party.”c
Asked whether Khan could be released, Buhari said: “The moment we go to the High Court and the Supreme Court, we are very confident that he will be released. “I think he will be released on many, if not all charges.” – Will be excluded on the basis of legal and procedural merits. ”
The third largest party appears to be the Pakistan People's Party, led by Bilawal Bhutto, the son of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.
As the results gradually became known, Britain and the United States expressed concern about restrictions on electoral freedom during the vote.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Britain called on Pakistani authorities to uphold “fundamental human rights and the rule of law, including free access to information.”
In a statement, he expressed “regret that all political parties were not formally allowed to participate in the elections.”
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized Pakistan's election process for “unreasonable restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.”
He also cited “attacks on media personnel” and “restrictions on access to the internet and telecommunications services” as reasons for concern about “alleged interference” in the process.
Many analysts say this election is one of the least reliable in Pakistan.
Voters in Lahore told the BBC they were unable to book taxis to vote due to an internet outage on election day, while others said they were unable to coordinate when to go to the polls with their families. there was.
An Interior Ministry spokesperson said the power outage was necessary for safety reasons.
Backing from the military is seen as critical to political success in Pakistan, and analysts say it currently has the backing of Sharif and his party, despite past disagreements. There is.
Maya Tudor, associate professor at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government, said Imran Khan's PTI taking the lead was “shocking” given the country's past.
“A win would be remarkable. In every other election in Pakistan's recent history, military-endorsed candidates have won,” Dr. Tudor explained.
Some 128 million people were registered to vote, almost half of them under the age of 35. More than 5,000 candidates (of which only 313 were women) competed for 266 directly elected seats in the 336-member parliament.
Maliha Lodhi, Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States, said the country “desperately” needs political stability to deal with what she calls “the worst economic crisis in history”.
But Mr. Lodhi was hopeful, saying that Pakistan's voter turnout showed “confidence in the democratic process.”