Pakistan’s former PM Nawaz Sharif claims victory in national elections

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday claimed victory in national elections, saying that his political party has emerged as the largest in the vote and will discuss forming a coalition government.

Sharif did not disclose how many seats his party had won and counting was still underway in the last few of the 265 seats that went to the polls.

The latest count published by the election panel showed his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) winning 42 seats, much below the 133 mark needed to stake claim to form a government.

Sharif said his deputies will meet other political parties later in the day to talk about forming a coalition government.

(Reporting by Islamabad bureau; Writing by Shivam Patel; Editing by YP Rajesh)