The celebration of the imprisoned former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, gained essentially the most seats in parliamentary elections this week, delivering a robust rebuke to the nation’s highly effective generals and throwing the political system into chaos.

While army leaders had hoped the election would put an finish to the political turmoil that has consumed the nation since Mr. Khan’s ouster in 2022, it has as an alternative plunged it into a good deeper disaster, analysts mentioned.

Never earlier than within the nation’s historical past has a politician seen such success in an election with out the backing of the generals — a lot much less after dealing with their iron fist.

In voting on Thursday, candidates from Mr. Khan’s celebration, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., appeared to win about 97 seats within the National Assembly, the decrease home of Parliament, the nation’s election fee reported on Saturday. The army’s most popular celebration, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or P.M.L.N., led by a three-time former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, gained at the very least 73 seats, the fee mentioned. Only seven seats had been left unaccounted for — not sufficient to vary the end result as reported by the fee.

While candidates aligned with Mr. Khan had been set to be the biggest group in Parliament, they nonetheless fell in need of a easy majority — setting off a race between the events of Mr. Khan and Mr. Sharif to win over different lawmakers and set up a coalition authorities.

Leaders of Mr. Khan’s celebration additionally mentioned they deliberate courtroom challenges in dozens of races that they consider had been rigged by the army, and mentioned they might urge their followers to carry peaceable protests if the remaining outcomes weren’t launched by Sunday.

The success of Mr. Khan’s celebration was a head-spinning upset in an election that the army thought can be a simple victory for Mr. Sharif. Ahead of final week’s election, Pakistan’s highly effective generals had jailed Mr. Khan, arrested candidates allied with him and intimidated his supporters to clear his celebration from the enjoying area — or in order that they thought. Instead, the election outcomes confirmed that Mr. Khan stays a formidable power in Pakistani politics, regardless of his ouster and subsequent imprisonment.

On Friday night, Mr. Khan’s celebration launched a victory speech utilizing a computer-generated voice to simulate that of Mr. Khan, who has been jailed since August. “I congratulate you all for your election 2024 victory. I had full confidence that you would all come out to vote,” the A.I.-generated voice mentioned. “Your massive turnout has stunned everybody.”

The success of Mr. Khan’s celebration upended the decades-old political playbook governing Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 240 million. Throughout these years, the army has wielded final authority, guiding its politics behind a veil of secrecy, and civilian leaders have sometimes risen to energy solely with its assist — or been pushed from workplace by its heavy hand.

The vote additionally confirmed that Mr. Khan’s technique of preaching reform and railing towards the army has resonated deeply with Pakistanis — notably younger individuals — who’re disillusioned with the political system. It additionally proved that his loyal base of supporters was seemingly resistant to the army’s outdated ways for demoralizing voters, together with arresting supporters and issuing lengthy jail sentences to their political leaders days earlier than the vote.

Mr. Khan, a former cricket star turned populist politician, was sentenced to a complete of 34 years in jail after being convicted in 4 separate instances on expenses that included leaking state secrets and techniques and illegal marriage, and that he has known as politically motivated.

Three of these verdicts had been issued simply days earlier than the vote — an outdated tactic utilized by the army, analysts say. But early estimates present that round 48 p.c of the voters turned out for the election, based on the Free and Fair Election Network, a corporation of civil society teams. Voter turnout within the nation’s previous two elections was about 50 p.c, the group mentioned.

The outcomes had been “both an anti-establishment vote and also a vote against the status quo, against the two other major political parties that have been ruling the country and their dynastic politics,” Zahid Hussain, an analyst based mostly in Islamabad, mentioned, referring to the army because the institution.

Without a easy majority, most analysts consider it will likely be troublesome for Mr. Khan’s celebration, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., to type a authorities. Some P.T.I. leaders have additionally instructed that the celebration would relatively stay within the opposition than lead a weakened coalition authorities with Mr. Khan nonetheless behind bars.

Despite lagging behind within the polls, on Friday Mr. Sharif gave a victory speech in entrance of a crowd of supporters of his celebration, P.M.L.N. He additionally invited different events to hitch his in forming a coalition authorities, suggesting that such a coalition wouldn’t embody P.T.I.

“We are inviting everyone today to rebuild this injured Pakistan and sit with us,” he mentioned in a speech in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province.

But any coalition Mr. Sharif manages to type will face critical political challenges. The coalition authorities led by P.M.L.N. after Mr. Khan’s ouster was deeply unpopular and broadly criticized for failing to handle an financial disaster that has battered the nation and despatched inflation to file highs.

The incoming authorities can be prone to face a critical legitimacy disaster. The election on Thursday has additionally been criticized by some as one of many least credible within the nation’s historical past, and delays in releasing the election outcomes have led to widespread allegations that the army tampered with the vote rely to tip the scales again in P.M.L.N.’s favor.

With P.T.I. promising bruising and prolonged courtroom battles over the outcomes, it could possibly be a while earlier than any celebration manages to type a authorities.

“We will pursue all legal options, and we will pursue all constitutional options,” mentioned the P.T.I. chief, Raoof Hasan.

Zia ur-Rehman contributed reporting.