- March 5, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
RAWALPINDI: A statewide demonstration against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has been announced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and is set to take place on Sunday, March 10. The demonstration is in response to the ECP’s decision to withdraw reserved seats away from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), where elected PTI MPs sought sanctuary after being denied the opportunity to run for office on the party’s electoral symbol and to give them to PML-N and PPP.
Tuesday, party officials Sher Afzal Marwat, Shandana Gulzar, Atif Khan, and Shehryar Afridi addressed the media outside Adiala Jail, where PTI founder Imran Khan is being held, expressing their displeasure with the ECP’s decision. They charged that the commission was using the mandate that the people had given the PTI to support other parties—the PML-N and PPP in particular. The leaders contended that granting reserved seats to other parties went against the will of the PTI voters. They declared their plan to stage a national protest in opposition to this purported injustice, arguing that the ECP’s decision constituted a flagrant abuse of power.
The PTI officials went on to criticize Pakistan’s economy, pointing out that it is heavily dependent on remittances from overseas and charging the Sharif family with embezzling money abroad. They emphasized the need for a leadership transition by claiming that the nation could quickly earn cash with the help of Pakistanis living abroad. The leaders took a daring step and requested that the election process be audited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They also questioned the validity of the Shehbaz Sharif administration, arguing that loans needed to be given to it if it was found to be genuine.
Regarding Bushra Bibi, the wife of PTI leader Imran Khan, who is being held in solitary confinement, the leaders made this assertion. They cited Imran Khan’s adamant intention to serve a seven-year prison sentence and his refusal to strike any agreements. Sher Afzal Marwat emphasized the solidarity of the opposition throughout the protests, pledging to lead the historic protests in Rawalpindi and Islamabad against the ECP in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. PTI leader and former speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser had earlier in the day declared a national action against the purported “stealing” of the party’s mandate in the general elections on February 8. Qaiser underscored the party’s resolve to initiate a movement adhering to the legal and constitutional framework.
Following the submission of a resolution by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to the National Assembly Secretariat, the PTI moved to demand the release of Imran Khan, the party’s founding chairman, and other party officials who were imprisoned. Along with ending the alleged abuse of the law, the resolution called for the end of political and criminal cases against PTI members.
Qaiser emphasized that the party “won’t back down because the country is our battleground, not just our politics.” Additionally, he emphasized that the PTI did not accept Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s “fake government”. “First and foremost, we demand that all institutions remain within the bounds set forth by the Constitution,” Qaiser stated. He further stated that the judiciary must make its own decisions without external pressure. In addition, Imran should be freed, the legal abuse should cease, and the cases against him should be immediately closed, according to the SIC’s resolution.
The resolution further said that the legal and political nature of the cases brought against every PTI member. The resolution states that PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Omar Sarfraz Cheema, Sanam Javed, Ejaz Chaudhry, Mehmood-ur- Rasheed, and Imran Riaz and Asad Toor, among others, ought to be released as well. Protests against “rigging” of polls
The PTI organized statewide rallies on March 2 against alleged election manipulation in the lead-up to the country’s prime ministerial ballot on February 8 ahead of that vote. A few activists from the previous ruling party were rounded up as a result of conflicts with the police during the demonstrations. PTI supporters praised former Prime Minister Imran Khan amid passionate chanting, doubting the integrity of the polls and accusing them of being manipulated. Justice and the release of the PTI founder and other party members were among the demands made by the protestors.
Sher Afzal Marwat, a lawyer and PTI leader announced on February 3 that the party had petitioned the Supreme Court to stop election tampering for the general elections scheduled for February 8. Speaking to the media, Marwat stated that he had filed a petition against poll fraud in the highest court, and he also mentioned that the nomination of Chief Electoral Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and other electoral body members had been contested.
In a press conference held outside the Adiala jail, Qaiser said that Shehbaz only had a “minority stake” in the results and that the electorate never granted him the go-ahead to become premier. “Ishaq Dar of the PML-N and his handling of the economy during his previous stints as finance minister should show some grace and step aside from the government,” he remarked, criticizing the PML-N. “The PML-N’s vote for you to become Senate chairman is a vote for the PPP to tell the public they are not a part of the government,” he bemoaned.