Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday hailed the outcome of a high-level probe that declared the 2013 election as free and fair and expressed hoped that his rivals would avoid negative politics in future.

The probe was launched in April when government and opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan struck a deal for independent investigations following violent protests over alleged fraud in the elections that Sharif had won.