Candidates supported by the party of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan plan to form a government, a senior aide said today imprisoned politiciancalling on his supporters to demonstrate peacefully if the election results are not made public.

The nuclear-armed South Asian nation voted on Thursday in parliamentary elections, with the country struggling to recover from an economic crisis and battling armed groups in a deeply polarized political environment.

Both Khan and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced their victory yesterday.

THE Gohar Khanthe chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who is also the former prime minister’s lawyer, called on “all institutions” in Pakistan to respect the mandate given to his party.

During a press conference, he said that if the overall election results are not released by tonight, the party will hold peaceful protests tomorrow outside government buildings across the country.

Today, Pakistan’s armed forces chief congratulated the country on the “successful conduct” of national elections, saying the nation needed “steady hands” to move away from the politics of “anarchy and polarization”.

The US, Britain and the European Union yesterday expressed concerns about the election process, calling for an investigation into alleged irregularities.