Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Tuesday announced that it will launch nationwide protests on March 10 against the “stealing” of the mandate, nearly a month after an inconclusive general election marred by allegations of vote rigging.
“We will unite all political forces and will launch a movement within the law and Constitution,” said former National Assembly speaker and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser while speaking to the media here.
He said that they are planning to take to the streets in all provinces so their demands are met, Geo News reported.
“Our movement will continue and will bring together all political forces,” he said, adding that they will ally with like-minded parties.
The February 8 general election, marred by allegations of widespread rigging, in Pakistan, resulted in a hung Parliament with independent candidates backed by Imran Khan’s party winning more than 90 seats at the 266-member National Assembly. Ex-premier Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N bagged 75 seats and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto’s PPP got 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan won 17 seats.
Nawaz’s younger brother Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as Prime Minister on Monday, days after his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.
Qaiser said that they would protest peacefully as they don’t believe in the Shehbaz Sharif-led “fake government”.
“You have no respect for our mandate and the 30 million votes we got,” he said, adding that “180 seats” have been stolen from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), the party joined by PTI-backed lawmakers.
The Election Commission of Pakistan on Monday ruled against a petition by the Sunni Ittehad Council to allot reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.