PTI hits streets on eve of PM election

Urges authorities to return seats “stolen” from party through “massive rigging”

LAHORE:

Ahead of the vote for the country’s next prime minister, the PTI staged nationwide protests on Saturday against alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections. During the demonstrations, clashes with police resulted in the rounding up of some activists of the former ruling party.

In Punjab’s provincial capital, hundreds of PTI supporters, including members of the Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), gathered at GPO Chowk near the Lahore High Court (LHC) building, staging a vocal demonstration.

However, law enforcement personnel resorted to wielding batons to disperse agitated PTI adherents, detaining several leaders and activists, including Mian Shehzad Farooq, Hafiz Zeeshan, and Supreme Court Bar Association former secretary Aftab Bajwa.

Amid fervent chants, PTI loyalists praised former prime minister Imran Khan while casting doubt on the integrity of the elections and alleging manipulation. The demonstrators demanded justice and the release of both the PTI founder and fellow party members.

According to reports, a police contingent was deployed near the court before the protest started, and arrests were made once protestors gathered there. Police action resulted in dispersing the remaining protestors.

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Elsewhere in the city, PTI loyalists poured onto the streets to voice their discontent with the purported electoral irregularities. A protest procession led by PTI provincial lawmaker Ali Imtiaz Waraich meandered from Cavalry Ground, while similar demonstrations took place in Shahdara and outside the Lahore Commissioner's Office.

Hundreds of PTI supporters also gathered at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh before marching to Islamabad.

Upon reaching the federal capital, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat addressed party activists, stating that the PTI would continue protesting until Imran Khan is released from jail and the seats stolen through rigging are restored to the party.

Also read: PTI decries speaker polls sans reserved seats

He urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the violation of Pakistanis’ fundamental rights under the judiciary’s watch.

“Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi, Bushra Bibi, Yasmin Rashid, Sanam Javed, and other PTI leaders have been unjustly jailed by the fascist regime imposed on us for the past two years,” he said.

Marwat stated that Imran’s only fault was that he said “absolutely not” to the United States and strived for the “haqeeqi azaadi”—true freedom—of the people of Pakistan.

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“We will continue our struggle and protest in the courts, parliament, and on the streets until Imran is released and our mandate is recovered,” the PTI leader said.

The PTI also held a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club against alleged electoral fraud. PTI leaders, including Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Attaullah Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Alamgir Khan, Jamal Siddiqui, Fozia Zeeshan, and Saifur Rahman, addressed the protesters.

They called upon authorities to take notice of the alleged rigging and ensure that the mandate is respected.

They claimed that the elections were stolen from the party across the country, including Karachi. They alleged that defeated candidates were installed using Form 47. Despite this, they said, prominent politicians faced defeat at the hands of PTI workers.
"We will continue our protest to obtain our mandate. We will fight the legal and political battle. We will send our successful candidates to the assembly with our mandate.

“We demand the Chief Justice of Pakistan to ensure the respect of the vote. Investigate the rigging and return our stolen mandate. We will not compromise on our demands at any cost," Naqvi said.

A spokesperson for PTI also vehemently criticized law enforcement and governmental apparatuses for impeding the constitutional prerogative of conducting peaceful protests.

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"In response to the clarion call of our leader, Imran Khan, the citizens of Pakistan have taken to the streets en masse to reclaim their allegedly pilfered mandate.

“The administration, having secured power through a spurious mandate, exhibits trepidation by resorting to unconstitutional measures to stifle peaceful dissent," said a statement issued by PTI’s central media department.

The spokesperson contended that the populace would not countenance the imposition of deceitful actors on the nation based on fraudulent electoral forms.

"The trajectory of Pakistan's future is intertwined with democracy, thus the citizenry should be accorded their constitutional entitlement to shape the course of governance.

"The PTI remains resolute in its nonviolent crusade within the contours of constitutional and legal frameworks to reclaim the purportedly usurped mandate," the spokesperson said.

WITH INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENTS IN RAWALPINDI, ISLAMABAD, AND KARACHI