Turmoil as voters deliver a rebuke to the generals

Police fired teargas to disperse supporters of Imran Khan last weekend as protests broke out across Pakistan amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging targeting the former prime minister's political party and other nationalist groups in the general election.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch

The results of last Thursday's election gave a surprise first place to Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, despite facing a stringent crackdown by the country's powerful military establishment.

But with no clear majority winner, Pakistan remained in a state of turmoil as several parties claimed they would form a government, and protests shut down swathes of the country.

An unprecedented wave of popularity won PTI-affiliated candidates more than 90 parliamentary seats but it is not enough to form a majority government. Khan's party claims that the real number of seats it won is more than 150 and has alleged systematic fraud in the counting and recording of votes. It is challenging dozens of results in the courts.

PTI defied a months-long crackdown that hindered campaigning and forced candidates to run as independents with a combined showing that still challenged party rivals.

Khan, a former cricketing star, was barred from contesting the election and handed several lengthy prison sentences leading up to the vote.

Last Sunday, the party organised protests outside election commission offices in constituencies where alleged rigging took place. In Lahore, hundreds of riot police gathered to break up the PTI protests and in some cases charged at groups peacefully protesting and detained them.

In Rawalpindi city, clashes were reported and police fired teargas to disperse dozens of PTI supporters.