Pakistan election results: Protest by Imran Khan's PTI amid Nawaz Sharif's govt formation bid | Latest updates

Supporters of Imran Khan’s PTI in Karachi on Saturday. (REUTERS)

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Saturday claimed that President Arif Alvi would invite the PTI to form the government as they had secured a majority in the National Assembly, local media report.

Amid the delay in the publication of Pakistan’s election results, the PTI has given a call for a nationwide protest on Sunday to protect the sanctity of the vote as independent candidates are in the lead with 100 seats.

Gohar Khan, the chairman of Imran Khan’s PTI party who also acts as the former prime minister’s lawyer, called on “all institutions” in Pakistan to respect his party’s mandate. At a press conference, Gohar Khan said if complete results of the elections were not released by Saturday night, the party would hold peaceful protests on Sunday outside government offices returning election results around the country.

Pakistan of 241 million people voted on February 8 in the general elections, as the country struggles to recover from an economic crisis and battles militant violence in a deeply polarised political environment.

Both Khan and his main rival, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, declared victory on Friday, increasing uncertainty over who will form the next government at a time when swift policy action is needed to address multiple challenges.

Some reports claimed that both Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are strongly pursuing paths to establish governments in the Centre, Punjab, and Balochistan. Both parties are proceeding cautiously, guarding their strategies while delicately negotiating the contours of a potential power-sharing arrangement. On Sunday, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari is scheduled to convene significant meetings in Lahore and Islamabad to deliberate on the specifics of their proposed coalition, reported Dawn.

Pakistan election results 2024: Latest updates

• The PTI decided to hold the protest after the party’s core committee meeting was held. It was announced to hold ‘peaceful protests’ across Pakistan at 2pm on Sunday to protect the sanctity of the vote.
• Hundreds of Imran Khan’s supporters rallied in the northwestern city of Peshawar led by two of his aides who said they had been declared losers despite having won the polls.
• PTI chairman barrister Gohar Ali Khan claimed that President Alvi would invite his party to form the government. He claimed that the PTI had won elections on 170 seats in the National Assembly. However, according to the official results, the party has got 100 seats. Alvi was a senior member of PTI before Imran Khan made him the country’s President in 2018.
• The PML-N and PPP had won 73 and 54 seats, respectively. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement had secured 17 seats, while the PML-Q had three. The JUI-F and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) had won three and two seats, respectively. The MWM and BNP had clinched one seat each.
• To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 in the National Assembly. Election to one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate. Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of its total 336 seats, which include the reserved slots for women and minorities.
• Votes were still being counted after the general election which was marred by allegations of rigging, sporadic violence and a countrywide mobile phone shutdown.
• Meanwhile, courts in Pakistan have been flooded with legal challenges as candidates challenged the provisional results in their constituencies in a bid to turn the tide. A vast majority of those filing such challenges were PTI-backed Independents candidates, including high-profile politicians such as Parvez Elahi and his wife Qaisera, former KP finance minister Taimoor Jhagra and ex-KP speaker Mahmood Jan, Islamabad-based lawyer Shuaib Shaheen, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, as well as Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar.
• In Lahore, the victories of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Attaullah Tarar and former defence minister Khawaja Asif were assailed in separate petitions before the high court, which alleged manipulation of Form 47s.

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