Posted on 07/26/2018 7:31:41 AM PDT by BenLurkin
His PTI party is still expected to fall short of an overall majority and to seek coalition partners.
Campaigning has been marred by violence. On voting day a bomb killed 31 people at a polling station.
Mr Khan, the charismatic aristocrat who captained Pakistan to a World Cup victory in 1992, has long shed his celebrity playboy image and has recently faced accusations that his election challenge was benefiting from military interference in the nuclear-armed republic..
The election has been seen as a contest between Mr Khan's PTI party and Mr Sharif's PML-N, with the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the historically liberal PPP, widely expected to come third.
In his address, Mr Khan said: "I think this has been the clearest, fairest election Pakistan has ever had." He added that he would investigate any claims to the contrary.
He also appealed to his rivals to join hands with him to develop Pakistan. And he vowed to hold talks with India to seek a resolution to the dispute over the Kashmir region, a key flashpoint between the nuclear-armed countries.
He also called for "mutually beneficial" ties with the United States, despite being an outspoken critic of that country's anti-terrorism measures in the region, such as drone strikes.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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