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Questions raised as MNA Nawaz chairs Punjab govt meetings
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PTI plans long march, sit-in against ‘rigging’ after Eid
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11 file papers for Nawabshah seat vacated by Zardari
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Questions raised as MNA Nawaz chairs Punjab govt meetings
PTI plans long march, sit-in against ‘rigging’ after Eid
11 file papers for Nawabshah seat vacated by Zardari
For more on our elections coverage, go here
A shutterdown strike is being observed across Balochistan by four political parties — namely BNP, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Hazara Democratic Party and National Party — against alleged rigging in the Feb 8 polls.
According to the district administration, the following roads have been closed as workers of the BNP and NP took to the streets:
PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Khan and Omar Ayub will address a press conference at the party’s central secretariat shortly, according a social media post.
PTI Senior Vice President Sher Afzal Marwat has said his residence was raided last night and his laptop was confiscated.
“I managed to run away from my home and now I am at a safe place,” he wrote on X, adding that he would approach the court against the “criminal act”.
President Dr Arif Alvi has summoned a Senate session on Feb 19 (Monday), according to a notification issued by the Senate Secretariat.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President has been pleased to summon the Senate to meet,” it said.
It must be noted that the president is bound to convene the National Assembly’s session after the official announcement of election results or issuance of its notification within 21 days, as per the Constitution.
The PTI has said it wants the “real mandate” of the public to be recognised, clarifying that it was not demanding the annulment of general elections.
“The results of the elections should reflect the actual votes cast by the people,” it said in a post on X.
The PTI added that all the institutions in Pakistan needed to ensure that only those who are the real representatives of the Pakistani people are seated in the Parliament.
Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai has termed the shutter down strike in the province, announced by nationalist Baloch parties against “poll rigging”, a “failure”.
In a post on X, he said all the major highways in the province were open.
“The Sardars and Nawabs of Balochistan are punishing the common people to reject the elections,” Achakzai added.
PML-N secretary information Marriyum Aurangzeb has called for countering propaganda and misinformation through facts, patience and prayers.
“I understand PMLN Social media team’s anger and frustration over false narratives and baseless accusations, but these times call for our best character and judgement rather than fuelling rage and hate as exhibited by others across,” the former federal minister said in a post on X.
“PMLN despite being victimised, bullied, trolled and harassed in ways worse than name calling, continues to strive and pray for a united, peaceful, tolerant and better Pakistan.”
Veteran politician Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, who lost the February 8 elections from Kacchi’s PB-12, has demanded repolls in the country amid allegations of rigging.
In an interview with Dawn.com, he suggested that political parties boycott the assemblies.
“Asif Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto are requested to refuse to accept the existence of the present assembly and move towards transparent elections again,” Rind added.
PML-N leader Khawaja Asif has said the decision to nominate Shehbaz Sharif as the prime minister was that the latter had greater experience in dealing with the coalition government.
“But rest assured, Nawaz Sharif will remain our quaid and the coin will always be in his hand,” he asserted.
PML-N leader and former federal minister Khawaja Asif has stressed that it was time political parties think beyond their “personal benefits” and work for the public.
“There can be no economic stability without political stability,” he said at a press conference, lamenting that the current political behaviours were further promoting division in the public.
Regarding the formation of the government, Asif said there was a development in the talks between the PML-N and PPP but stopped short of revealing the details. Regarding the Punjab government, he said PML-N had attained a “comfortable majority” in the province.
PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar has urged the caretaker government to take strict action against those who threatened returning officers (ROs).
“Is it not terrorism when they display the RO’s photos online?” Tarar questioned at a press conference in Lahore, adding that this was a highly condemnable action.
PML-N spokesperson for Punjab, Uzma Bukhari, claimed that the ROs and District Returning Officers (DROs) were being “pushed to be like Liaquat Ali Chattha”, alleging that they were being forced to lie about rigging in the elections.
“This cannot happen in any Banana Republic, that they [ROs and DROs] are pushed to become like Liaquat Chattha, and if they don’t comply, they are told they have no place in this country,” she said.
PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar has asserted that the upcoming era belongs to PML-N.
“Remember, this constituency was Nawaz Sharif’s in the past and remains so today too,” he said at a media talk in Lahore.
He praised Khawaja Saad Rafique for graciously accepting his defeat and urged others to show similar bravery as well.
“On the one hand you’ve won seats, yet you’re complaining about rigging,” he said in reference to the PTI-backed independents. “Choose which statement you’re supporting.”
He also lamented the “wrong use” of social media, saying it has been used to spread lies and create animosity between people.
PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan has alleged that the PTI is inciting the public against government officials and called on the caretakers to take action against the party.
At a press conference, he likened the PTI to Pablo Escobar. “There is no difference between the two,” he said, adding that the party’s workers were “harassing” government officials.
Ahmad further claimed that a similar pattern was also soon before the May 9 riots, recalling how PTI workers attacked the police and law enforcement agencies at the time of Imran’s arrest.
“I request the caretakers that the way the situation has developed […] if you don’t pre-empt it, this will spiral out of control,” he added.
PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan has said the outgoing Rawalpindi commissioner, who has made explosive allegations of rigging during the Feb 8 polls, was a “non-party to elections”.
“Neither is he the returning officer nor is he the district returning officer […] he has no relation with the entire electoral process. He does not even have any interactive position with the ECP.
“He does not have any relation with the election or the tabulation of poll results. He has nothing to do with the entire process,” the PML-N leader added.
Ahmad further claimed that a “dangerous campaign” had begun against district returning officers to “incite hate” and followed a pattern similar to the May 9 saga.
Ali Amin Gandapur has said his party, after forming the next government in the province with the help of its loyalist MPAs, won’t play the politics of revenge and would rather “reform” institutions.
“Our [PTI’s] aim will be to reform institutions, which are responsible for our witch hunt, for the bright future of our children. Those opposed to reforms will be punished as per the law,” he told a rally against poll “rigging” in the provincial capital’s Gulistan Park on the Ring Road.
It was his first public meeting since his nomination for the CM’s office last week.
Holding a picture of PTI founder and former prime minister Imran Khan, Mr Gandapur said the PTI would form the next government in KP to provide women with all legal and constitutional rights.
Former commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha was a hardworking officer and had a composed personality, senior officials of the Punjab government told Dawn.
They said the former commissioner had good relations with all political leaders, including former interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan.
Originally from Hafizabad, Mr Chattha started his career in civil service as an executive magistrate in 1992. During most of his career, the former commissioner remained posted in Faisalabad and served on a number of positions, including that of executive district officer finance from 1992-2012.
During the tenure of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, he served as deputy secretary at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. He also remained the deputy commissioner in Gujrat and Sargodha.
Mr Chattha also served as secretary Labour and Housing, Urban Development and Public Health and member Punjab Revenue Board.
Later, he was appointed as commissioner of Dera Ghazi Khan and then transferred to Rawalpindi in the same position.
Leaders from a coalition of Baloch, Pashtoon and Hazara nationalist parties have rejected the Feb 8 election results, accusing the process of being marred by corruption, with allegations of Rs70 billion being given in Balochistan for electoral victories.
Speaking at a joint public meeting in front of the office of Quetta district returning officer on Saturday, they said people of Balochistan had been denied their real mandate, which was a crime, and those involved must be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution.
The heads of these four parties — Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), National Party (NP) and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) — alleged that the candidates declared winners in the elections did not secure their positions through legitimate votes but were instead aided by “supernatural entities”.
They also called for a province-wide wheel-jam strike today (Sunday) and declared that they would support parties that would stop civil and military interference in politics.
PPP which emerged as the single largest party in Balochistan Assembly with 11 seats after the February 8 elections, dropped to the second position after losing a seat from Kohlu in the re-polling held on Friday on the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
According to provisional results issued by the Kohlu RO’s office, PML-N’s Nawab Jangeez Khan Marri won from PB-9 Kohlu after re-polling in the seven polling stations. He obtained 7,544 votes against PPP’s Mir Nasibullah Khan Marri, who had earlier won the contest with 6,277 votes.
Mr Marri contested the election on the same seat in 2023 on the ticket of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and served as the minister for education in the Jam Kamal and Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo-led coalition governments. However, he joined PPP during the visit of Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to Quetta.
Mian Khan Bugti, an independent candidate for NA-253 (Ziarat-Harnai-Sibi-Kohlu-Dera Bugti), maintained his victory after re-polling in seven stations within the constituency. He initially won NA-253 on Feb 8 and later joined the PML-N. He defeated Mir Dostain Khan Domki of PML-N, who is the younger brother of caretaker Chief Minister Mir Ali Madad Domki.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) raised serious concerns about the integrity and credibility of the Feb 8 elections, citing a range of issues that have cast a shadow over the democratic process.
In a report released yesterday, the HRCP urged an independent audit of Feb 8 general elections under the supervision of a parliamentary body.
According to HRCP’s election observers, who conducted spot-checks in 51 constituencies, the nationwide shutdown of internet and cellular services on polling day, coupled with arbitrary changes in polling information, hindered voters’ access to polling stations.
“This was particularly true for women with restricted mobility, persons living with disabilities, the elderly, and low-income voters. Of particular concern is the protracted delay in announcement of election results by the returning officers,” said the report.
While the polling process itself was generally transparent and peaceful, the post-polling procedures raised significant concerns, it said.
Read full report here.
Amid rising political tension and protests over the alleged vote rigging in the Feb 8 general elections, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has come out with a piece of advice to the protesting parties and individuals: pursue legal recourse instead of agitation.
In a statement issued hours after Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chattha made startling allegations of rigging in the elections, providing an impetus to the agitating parties, the caretaker premier warned that violence and agitation would not be tolerated in the country.
He said the recently conducted elections in the country had been a step towards promoting democracy and significant turnout from all segments of society, including both genders, had been acknowledged internationally.
Post-elections, he said, it was imperative that all the stakeholders realise that victory and defeat were inherent aspects of democratic processes.
PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz has been given the chief minister’s security, party sources disclosed a day earlier.
She now has two bulletproof cars, four police squad vehicles, a traffic wardens’ pilot, and one signal jammer vehicle for her security. The entire squad has arrived at her residence in Jati Umra.
She has already taken on the role of chief minister, as Punjab chief secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman and IGP Dr Usman Anwar recently provided her with briefings on administrative and security matters of Punjab at her residence.
The PML-N has nominated Maryam for the position of chief minister. Having emerged as the largest party in the Punjab Assembly, and with the support of around 16 independent MPAs-elect, its total count has increased to 153.
Pakistan’s economic challenges, particularly its fragile external and liquidity position and unsustainable budget deficit, are enormous, and the Feb 8 polls have failed to bring even a semblance of political stability needed to deal with them by producing a fractured mandate.
Last summer, the country had barely avoided a default on its international payments thanks to a nine-month $3 billion bailout package from the IMF, scheduled to end in mid-April.
The split public mandate has triggered intense politicking, as no party has won enough seats to form its government on its own, and every party is reluctant to lead the country. The PPP has announced that it will conditionally back a minority government to be led by the PML-N from the outside, knowing the failure to stabilise the economy could result in political backlash from the public.
In return for its support, it wants all top constitutional offices for itself. Additionally, it has demanded the PML-N support for forming its government in Balochistan and a share in Punjab.
Read more here.
Even after the passage of more than a week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is yet to notify the victory of most of the independent candidates who have won National Assembly (NA) seats in the general elections.
More than 101 independent candidates — most of them backed by PTI — have won NA seats, according to unofficial results. However, until last night, the ECP had notified the result of only eight of them and declared the victory of 33 more through a late-night notification.
The delay on part of the ECP to officially notify the results of a majority of the independent candidates has raised concerns among their voters and stakeholders amid political wrangling over numbers game for formation of government in the Centre.
While under the election rules, independent candidates have three days to join a political party after official notification of their victory, the ECP has so far notified results of 154 out of total 265 NA constituencies, where elections took place on Feb 8. They include 41 independents.
Read full story here.
The talks between PPP and PML-N to devise a power-sharing formula in the upcoming coalition government remained inconclusive, though both sides claimed “significant progress” in the discussions.
The third meeting between the Contact and Coordination Committees (CCCs) of the two parties, which took place yesterday, remained inconclusive and both decided to meet again on Monday (tomorrow) to finalise the power-sharing formula.
A brief announcement issued by PML-N after the meeting stated that there had been “significant progress” in talks with both sides, stressing the need for a “strong democratic government”.
The PML-N was represented by Ishaq Dar, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Azam Nazeer Tarar and Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, whereas those representing the PPP included former Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah, Saeed Ghani, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri.
Read more here.
After an explosive press conference regarding allegations of poll rigging, the outgoing Rawalpindi commissioner surrendered himself to the police, who arrested him and sealed his office.
A local official said the office was sealed since the administration wanted to prevent record tampering.
However, a police spokesman said the commissioner was not arrested as there were no cases against him, but he was in “custody” after the allegations.
Chattha has been shifted to some unknown place.
A senior district administration official said security of the polling staff, returning and district returning officers had been increased and election material and data had been secured.
He said though election results were already provided to the ECP, the official record with ROs has also been protected.
A group of five district returning officers have rejected the rigging allegations levelled by former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha earlier today.
In a press conference alongside the new Pindi Commissioner Saif Anwar, the five DROs — including four male officers and a female officer —urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct an independent inquiry into the rigging allegations.
The DROs maintained that they were not pressured by anyone and carried out the polls according to the Election Act as well as directions given by the electoral watchdog.
“I was working as DRO Jhelum and all the polls were conducted free and fairly,” Captain (retd) Samiullah Farooq said.
DRO Chakwal Quratalain also echoed those sentiments.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has formed a high-level committee to investigate the rigging allegations levelled by Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha.
“Neither is the commissioner of any division ever appointed as a DRO, RO or presiding officer nor do they ever play a direct role in the conduct of elections,” the ECP said in a statement.
The high-level committee set up by the election watchdog will quiz the relevant ROs and DROs in light of the commissioner’s allegations.
The panel will be headed by a senior ECP member and include the secretary, special secretary, and the additional director general (law).
The decision about contempt proceedings against the civil servant will be taken in light of this report.
A nationwide disruption in social media platform X’s (formerly Twitter) service has been reported in Pakistan due to the “escalating unrest and protests” over allegations of election fraud, according to Internet tracking organisation NetBlocks.
In a post on X, the organisation added that the disruption took place “following a high-level resignation and public admission of vote manipulation by a senior election official”.
The confirmation from NetBlocks came after users of the website complained of facing difficulties loading its webpage.
PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur has urged other returning officers involved in the alleged rigging of elections to “step up and speak the truth” like Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha.
Addressing a rally in Peshawar, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister hopeful said: “It’s not too late now. Get up and talk. We will support you. No one can say anything to you in this country. We promise you this.”
Property tycoon Malik Riaz has denied ever meeting or contacting Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha — who has confessed to rigging the Feb 8 elections.
In a post on X, the real estate developer termed the accusations levelled by PML-N regarding his involvement as “false and unfounded”.
“It’s so unfortunate that every time chaos happens in Pakistan, everyone starts pointing fingers at me or my organisation without any rationale, logic, or proof,” he said.
“I have never met or contacted Liaqat Chattha. I have no links to him, neither social nor business. The accusations by PML-N regarding my involvement with Liaqat Chattha are false and unfounded.”
Riaz said he was available for an inquiry in this regard. “As a Pakistani, I’m only praying for stability and prosperity in the country,” he concluded.
PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha should have approached the Election Commission of Pakistan with evidence if there was any instead of hurling allegations during a press conference.
Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan with Shahzad Iqbal, she said the commissioner neither presented any evidence nor discloses if he had received any call or a text message.
“Your conscience came alive eight days after the elections and after receiving your US visa,” Aurangzeb said.
Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervez Khattak has resigned as the president of PTI-P citing poor health.
PTI-P leader Waseem Hayat confirmed the development to Dawn.com, adding that Khattak had also given up his party membership.
Khattak was unable to win a single seat he had contested on during the 2024 elections.
PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has asked Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha to answer four questions if his rigging allegations are true.
Speaking on a Geo News programme Naya Pakistan with Shahzad Iqbal, she asked the following questions:
PTI leader Salman Akram Raja and other party workers were released by Lahore police, DIG operation spokesperson Agha Ehtsham has confirmed to Dawn.com.
Raja and Co were arrested while they were staging a protest against alleged poll rigging.
The arrest was widely condemned on social media by political activists and members of the legal fraternity.
Former prime minister Imran Khan has said that Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha’s “incriminating confessions” serve as a stark revelation of the “countrywide systematic manipulation of election results”, claiming that the people were deprived of their rightful mandate in the national and provincial assemblies.
According to a post on his X account, the incarcerated PTI founder said: “It’s high time, for the sake of the country’s reputation, well-being as well as political and economic stability, to reflect and correct our course, and respect the people’s will by declaring results as per Form 45.”
PTI also calls for a fair investigation and meaningful trial of all those involved in this “brazen mandate theft”, the post said.