Live: Elections 2024

Newly sworn-in Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani has sworn in MPAs-elect. He first conducted the ceremony in Sindhi, then in Urdu. He is now allowing those who wish to take oath in English to do so.

Newly elected representatives of the Sindh Assembly are taking their oath as lawmakers, which is being administered by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

A first batch of lawmakers took their oath in Sindh while a second batch did the same in Urdu.

A third batch is now taking their oath as MPA in English.

Outgoing Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani has taken oath as a lawmaker. He took oath in the Sindhi language. Before that, he was about swear in the other lawmakers but he was stopped by lawmaker elect Murad Ali Shah, who told him he should first be sworn in before he could swear the others in.

Durrani was the speaker in the legislature that was elected in 2018.

As a session of the Sindh Assembly began, MPAs-elect belonging to the Grand Democratic Alliance, Jamaat-i-Islami and independents backed by the PTI — who recently joined the Sunni Ittehad Council as per the PTI’s directions — did not show up to take their oath, a Dawn.com correspondent reports.

PPP’s candidate for chief minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, has claimed that the party’s seats were diluted.

Speaking to reporters outside the Sindh Assembly, Murad said he had initially predicted the PPP would win 90-to-95 seats, however, that was not the case.

He said he would “count each and every seat” and let people know where PPP won and lost.

He expressed gratitude over the commencement of the Sindh Assembly, adding that the next three days were important due to the oath-taking ceremony of the MPAs and the elections for the assembly speaker and the provincial chief minister.

A session of the Sindh Assembly has begun, after a delay of around 40 minutes.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani is chairing the session. The Holy Quran was recited to mark the commencement of the session.

PTI-backed candidate Barrister Salman Akram Raja has said that the country faces “election engineering at the deepest level”.

Responding to a post on X about the PTI’s strategy against alleged rigging, Raja said, “You must understand this is not a situation in which we face rigging at a bunch of polling stations or constituencies.

“We face election engineering at the deepest level. ECP was the natural first forum to seek redress. It has refused to even look at the volumes of forms 45 filed,” he added.

“High courts were approached over the last two weeks against patent illegalities by the ECP and the returning officers in issuing various forms and notifications. Stay orders were obtained and matters left for the ECP to resolve. In the end the ECP looked away. SC petition must be carefully conceived,” he said in another post.

Workers of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are protesting at Karachi’s Toll Plaza, ahead of its planned protest outside the Sindh Assembly today.

JUI-F Sindh Secretary General Allama Rashid Mahmood Soomro is leading the protest, saying that the party workers want to stage a protest outside the provincial assembly.

The protest has disrupted traffic flow at the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway.

Soomro asserted that protesting was their constitutional right, which he said was being taken away from the party. He demanded that the Sindh police chief tell them under which law they were not being allowed to enter the city.

The sit-ins by an alliance of four nationalist parties across Balochistan have continued against the alle­ged rigging in the Febru­ary 8 general elections.

The protest has been continuing for over two weeks in different parts of Balochistan including the provincial capital, Quetta.

Supporters of the four-party alliance continued the sit-in outside the office of the Quetta district returning officer. The demonstrators have set up a camp at the roadside to continue their protest round the clock.

Reports from Loralai, Khuzdar, Turbat, Panjgur, Gwadar, Hub, Noshki, Kharan, Kalat, Pishin, Chaman and Qila Abdullah suggested sit-ins have been continuing in these areas.

Read more here.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has said its supporters from other cities are being stopped by the police at Karachi’s Toll Plaza, ahead of its planned protest outside the Sindh Assembly today.

In a statement, JUI-F spokesperson Sami Swati said, “Talks with the police administration are under way about stopping the caravans.”

“Groups of people from across Sindh are reaching Karachi to participate in the protests. The main group will reach the Sindh Assembly from Awami Markaz as a rally, he added.

The first session of the Sindh Assembly is scheduled to be held today at 11am.

The Grand Democratic Alliance and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl have announced protests outside the provincial assembly against alleged rigging in the Feb 8 elections.

“Our protests across Sindh, including Karachi, are against the theft of the public mandate,” GDA Information Secretary Sardar Abdul Rahim said in a statement.

An MQM-P delegation has called on PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore and discussed a power-sharing formula with him.

The delegation from Kara­chi comprised Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Farooq Sattar and Mustafa Kamal.

The MQM-P reportedly came to meet Sharif, who is the candidate of six parties for the post of prime minister, to get his assurance that the party will get a “reasonable share” in the upcoming government.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Balochistan Awami Party comprising Khalid Magsi, Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and Senator Kahda Babar also met Shehbaz.

Incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan, while talking to reporters in Adiala Jail, has confirmed he was planning to write to the International Monetary Fund.

He said PTI would write a letter to the IMF against alleged rigging. “We will inform the Fund that due to rigged elections, the investors would not trust the regime and that PTI is seeking a probe into the rigging.”

He was of the view that in the prevailing political unrest, new loans would bring more poverty. “Seeking loan without investment will be detrimental to the country’s economy,” he warned, adding that political stability was imperative prior to getting a new loan.

Read more here.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has notified the victories of all three PML-N candidates from Islamabad.

Three PML-N candidates —Anjum Aqeel, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, and Raja Khurram Nawaz — had won from NA-46, NA-47 and NA-48 respectively.

The PTI had earlier moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the ECP’s notification but the court disposed of the petition and referred the matter back to the commission.

On Wednesday, the court declared that the victory notifications of the PML-N candidates would remain suspended till the ECP’s decision on the pending cases.

Read more here.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) has staged protest rallies in various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand and Hazara divisions against alleged poll rigging and a Supreme Court (SC) verdict in a case about ‘proscribed literature’.

Protest rallies were called by the JUI-F central leadership today after Friday prayers with demonstrations held in Shangla, Lower Dir, Battagram, Buner and other districts of Hazara and Malakand divisions.

Participants of the rallies shouted slogans against the superior judiciary and alleged rigging in the general elections.

In Shangla, the rallies were held in Bisham, Alpuri, Kana and Puran tehsils where JUI-F workers demonstrated and sloganeered against the election commission and caretaker government.

Read more here.

Internet tracking monitor NetBlocks has highlighted that virtual private networks are now also being “widely restricted” as the disruption of social media platform X continues into a seventh day.

PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat has said that judging from the comments of Barrister Ali Zafar, he is “perhaps not mentally ready” to accept his nomination as the next party chairman.

Talking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, Marwat said party founder Imran Khan would now make the final decision about the matter.

“It is now clear that Ali Zafar perhaps is not presenting his services for the position due to his professional engagements” as a lawyer, Marwat said.

United States Senator Chris Van Hollens has said he penned a letter to Pakistan’s US Ambassador Masood Khan calling for an investigation into the “credible reports of fraud and interference” in the general elections.

Sindh’s caretaker Home Minister retired Brigadier Haris Nawaz has warned that Section 144 is in force in Karachi thus any kind of processions and protests are banned at the provincial assembly.

“Yesterday, concrete security measures have been taken in and around the Sindh Assembly,” he said in a statement and warned of taking strict action against those demonstrating any unruliness or lawlessness.

“Ensure cooperation with the public, police and other law enforcement agencies in maintaining law and order,” he said.

The Awami National Party has announced a protest outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on the day of its inaugural session.

PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar has clarified that party founder Imran Khan’s letter to the IMF calling for an audit of the general elections is not meant to impose conditionality on any future programme with the Fund.

Talking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, Zafar said there was no issue about making the agency aware of any demands by the party regarding the conditions and terms it normally sets for any programme.

PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar has said that party founder Imran Khan has not yet written a letter to the International Monetary Fund calling for an audit of the February 8 general elections.

Talking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, Zafar said: “As far as I know the letter has not been written. The letter will be drafted and shown to him (Imran) and will then be sent after.”

PTI-backed independent Rehana Dar has alleged that she was “harassed” inside the office of the returning officer.

“They manhandled me, twisted my arms and assaulted those that were with me. The RO did not let me go inside, even though it was my legal right,” she said in a video shared by the PTI on X.

The party further claimed that Rehana won from her constituency in Sialkot but was made to lose opposite PML-N’s Khawaja Asif.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has vowed to work harder for the people of Sindh, saying that his party was beginning a new journey of politics in the province.

He also thanked the public for voting for the PPP.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has welcomed the nomination of Naveed Anthony for the office of the deputy speaker of the Sindh Assembly.

“This will bring some confidence to maginalised religious minority communities in Pakistan with respect to the status of their citizenship and the possibility of obtaining a space in the polity and society of Pakistan,” it said on X.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar has said his residence, where his parents and children stay, has been “sealed”.

In a post on social media platform X, he claimed attempts were being made to arrest and silence him. “Or they want me to hold a press conference like others,” Azhar said, referring to a string of resignations by the PTI’s top leadership in the aftermath of the May 9 saga.

The National Assembly Secretariat has said the registration process of MNAs-elect is underway, adding that a facilitation centre for this purpose has also been set up.

It said 68 members have so far completed the registration process. The NA secretariat would also remain open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm.