[27] On 8 March 2022, the opposition parties, under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), submitted a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan to the National Assembly's secretariat.

[81] After serving 12 months of his 7-year sentence on corruption charges, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif left the country on 19 November 2019 to receive medical treatment in London, promising to return in 4 weeks.

[95] All three trials were held behind closed doors in Adiala Jail, where Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023 on corruption charges, and were marked with rushed proceedings, sudden replacement of defendant's lawyers with state consuls, and other procedural irregularities that led his party to term the decisions to be coming from "kangaroo courts".

[119] On 14 December 2023, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of the Lahore High Court suspended the ECP's decision on the petition of the PTI that questioned the apparent bias of the appointed bureaucrats.

[120] However, the next day, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of Qazi Faez Isa, Mansoor Ali Shah, and Sardar Tariq Masood, set aside this ruling and allowed the DROs and ROs to be notified from the bureaucracy, meanwhile stopping LHC from undertaking further proceedings on the petition citing over-reach of authority.

[131] Widespread internet disruption, with complete closure of mobile phone networks, was observed and condemned by Amnesty International as a blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

[132] On 6 March, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) admitted in its response to the Sindh High Court (SHC) that the Ministry of Interior had indeed issued directives to suspend mobile phone services on the election day on 8 February, due to security concerns and fear of terror related activities.

[186] On 17 February, Rawalpindi Division commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha resigned from his post after admitting his role in electoral fraud in the locality where 11 out of a total of 13 national assembly seats were won by PML-N candidates.

[201] The government initially dismissed reports of Twitter being blocked, but a document presented to the court on 20 March revealed that the Ministry of Interior and intelligence agencies had ordered the suspension of the website on 17 February, following a statement of Chattha's alleging election rigging.

[208] The official Twitter account of Imran Khan, the de facto leader of the PTI, was involved in disseminating false information by sharing a fabricated video purportedly showing post-election rigging.

[209] Gallup Pakistan's exit poll survey indicated that the PTI garnered significant support from educated youth, with 41 percent of its voters being high school-educated individuals aged 18 to 24 or older.

[212] Another article by the same newspaper said that the growing public discontent with military interference in politics is likely to pressure Pakistan's army chief General Asim Munir, with his only options being to reconcile with Imran Khan or push forward with an anti-Khan coalition, which many analysts believe would be weak and unsustainable.

[213] The Washington Post in its editorial board wrote following the election outcome, the military's control is being questioned more than ever before, possibly in decades as for the first time, the military-preferred candidate, Nawaz Sharif, was unable to win the most seats.

[222] In a separate article, The Guardian noted analysts' views that the election results and potential weak coalition government align with the military's interests, protecting their political and business agendas.

[113] Pakistani columnist Khurram Husain was quoted in a separate piece in the newspaper as saying that Pakistan will experience not only the influence of the military but also a collaborative endeavour involving the judiciary and major political parties to thwart the PTI from assuming power.

[225] Sameer Arshad Khatlani in an opinion piece for the Dhaka Tribune wrote "Election results seem to be blowing up in the military establishment's face which attempted to make Imran Khan irrelevant by jailing him, cracking down PTI".

A new generation of young voters has emerged in Pakistan who are calling for a departure from the past and seeking the ability to elect their leaders, rather than allowing the military, which has historically dominated politics to maintain control over the country.

[250] Awami National Party provincial president for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Aimal Wali Khan in a press conference rejected the results of the elections, claiming they were already decided before voting began.

[286] On 19 February, the PTI announced that it would form an alliance with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) solely to secure its portion of reserved seats in the National, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

As a result, he faced significant criticism from the PPP and the PML-N[292][293] who asserted that the President's action amounts to "abrogating the Constitution" by not convening the session, and warned of potential legal consequences.

[294] Imran Khan also endorsed Alvi's decision to decline the summoning of the session and said that they were drafting a letter to the International Monetary Fund (IMF),[295] urging for the condition that any of its discussions with the incoming PML-N/PPP coalition government should be contingent upon an independent audit of the general election.

[304] Speaking to the media from jail, Imran Khan also criticized the denial of reserved seats to the PTI as unconstitutional, drawing parallels to the disenfranchisement of East Pakistan following the 1970 Pakistani general election which ultimately resulted in the country's disintegration.

Due to the absence of a clear majority for any single party in the assembly, Shehbaz was elected with the joint support from PML-N's allies such as the PPP, MQM-P, PML-Q, BAP, PML-Z, IPP, NP among others.

He praised the enthusiasm of the people of Pakistan and expressed appreciation for their participation in the polling process, adding that "the high voter turnout is a clear indication of public commitment to shaping the future of our country.

[340] The Pakistan Armed Forces, through its media wing ISPR, extended congratulations to the nation for the peaceful conduct of the general elections, emphasizing their role in advancing democracy and fulfilling the aspirations of the people.

[341] Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir urged citizens to move on from the politics of "anarchy and polarization", adding that a stable hand was needed to unite "Pakistan's diverse polity", and to make "democracy functional and purposeful".

[343] President Arif Alvi, stated that the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) could have averted the uncertainty surrounding the election results and reminded of his efforts to introduce them in the country's electoral process.

[349] Dawn in its editorial titled "Respect the mandate" stated it is becoming increasingly clear that there is widespread anger and resentment towards the military's continuous involvement in civilian affairs, and urged the armed forces to abandon its grudge against the PTI.

[353] Hina Jilani, co-founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, expressed her astonishment at the election outcome, stating that she, like everyone else, was taken aback, saying that "It's strange for me to say this, but I don't think the Pakistani public has ever played a strong role in enforcing democracy in this country."

[365] On 28 February, at least 31 members of the United States Congress wrote a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him to withhold recognition of the incoming coalition government until a "thorough, transparent, and credible" audit of the election is conducted.