Pakistan Elections 2024: Elections were rigged, now Imran’s party will play the role of opposition

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has decided to sit in the opposition in Parliament, launching nationwide protests against alleged election rigging after its bid to form the next government failed. After the divided verdict in the elections held on February 8 in Pakistan, major political parties have intensified efforts to form a federal government. While independent candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party dominated the election results, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) claimed enough numbers to form the government, as some independents The candidate joined the party led by Nawaz Sharif.

PTI leader Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif on Friday announced that following the instructions of PTI founder Khan, the party has decided to sit in opposition at the Center and in key provinces like Punjab. The decision came a day after the party named Omar Ayub Khan as its prime ministerial candidate and Aslam Iqbal as its chief ministerial candidate for Punjab. Speaking to the media on Friday night after visiting the Qaumi Watan Party in Islamabad, Saif said the party has decided to sit in the opposition at the Center and Punjab under the instructions of party founder Khan. He said that we decided to sit in the opposition despite the fact that if we had got the seats as per our votes and the results had not changed, today perhaps we would have been at the Center with 180 seats. We have evidence that our candidate has won.

The party, which also released a white paper against alleged rigging on Friday, has decided to start its protest from Saturday. A PTI source said the party’s jailed founder has tasked former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser with the task of involving political parties to garner support for the protest campaign. A PTI delegation led by Qaiser met Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leaders on Friday, while a meeting with Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party’s Mahmood Khan Achakzai is scheduled for Saturday.