Former Pakistani Prime Ministers Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif both claimed victory in the country’s general elections on Friday although the counting of votes is still underway.

So far, the Independent candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have secured 91 out of 266 seats in the National Assembly, reported The Dawn. Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is a close second with 71 seats and the Pakistan People’s Party has secured 53 seats.

Pakistan’s National Assembly has a total of 266 elected members. A party or a coalition needs 134 seats to win.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which was the largest party in the previous general elections in 2018, was forced to field its candidates as independents this time as the country’s Supreme Court blocked the party from using its electoral symbol. Khan, the party’s chief, is in jail after being convicted in multiple legal cases.

As his party continued to lead in the majority of seats, Khan on Friday congratulated the country and expressed gratitude for the victory in an Artificial Intelligence-generated speech. The video, posted on X, showed Khan’s virtual version describing Sharif as a “petty man”.

The former cricketer also said that no Pakistani will accept him or his claim of victory.

“My fellow Pakistanis, you have made history,” Khan said. “I am proud of you, and I give thanks to God for uniting the nation”.

Khan claimed that his candidates are winning on more than 170 seats, adding that a “two-third majority” has been secured, reported The Dawn.

Meanwhile, Sharif said that he would seek to form a coalition government with the Pakistan People’s Party led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, reported Al Jazeera.

“We don’t have enough of a majority to form a government without the support of others and we invite allies to join the coalition so we can make joint efforts to pull Pakistan out of its problems,” Sharif said.

This comes amid allegations of rigging of election results in some parts of the country.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf spokesperson Raoof Hasan accused authorities of tampering with the results, saying votes had been “stolen” as he questioned the delay in election results.

Results for 14 National Assembly seats still remains pending even after 40 hours have passed since the voting ended, reported Dawn.

Thursday’s polling was marred by incidents of violence with 28 people being killed in militant attacks, reported Reuters.

Amidst political drama in the country, Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir said that the nation needs “stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people”, reported Dawn.

Meanwhile, the United States, Australia, Britain and the European Union expressed concerns about Pakistan’s electoral process, urging an inquiry into reported irregularities.

“We recognise serious concerns over the fairness and lack of inclusivity of Pakistan’s elections,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Friday. “Authorities must uphold fundamental human rights including free access to information and the rule of law.”

Responding to concerns expressed by the Western countries, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said on Saturday that it is “surprised by the negative tone of some” of the statements made by certain countries and organisations.

“These statements ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections, peacefully and successfully, while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign sponsored terrorism,” it said.