Live: Elections 2024

The PPP’s Central Executive Committee meeting was held in Islamabad under the leadership of Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, a party statement said.

The participants of the meeting expressed their confidence in the leadership of the party and discussed a myriad of topics including the general elections and the way forward.

The PTI has established special committees to strategise on government formation in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A statement issued after the party’s core committee meeting said the participants agreed to the early completion of the nomination process for important government and parliamentary positions as per the recommendations and strategies proposed by the committees.

Ziaullah Bangash, a former MPA and advisor to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, has refuted media reports regarding Pervez Khattak’s resignation from PTI-Parliamentarians.

“I have talked to Pervez Khattak and he has regarded any such news as rumours,” Bangash told Dawn.com.

Earlier, several television channels reported that Khattak had decided to resign from the party and quit politics.

A PTI delegation comprising central information secretary Raoof Hasan and lawyer Umair Niazi has briefed President Dr Arif Alvi about alleged rigging during the general elections.

A statement from the presidency said that the delegation briefed Alvi on the party’s electoral successes despite its alleged suppression.

PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz held a meeting with independents who recently joined the Nawaz Sharif-led party and congratulated them on the decision.

“Your decision will be the solution to the problems of the people of Pakistan,” she told them, a PML-N statement on X said.

The ECP has said the suspension of mobile services on February 8 created some hindrances in the sending of electronic data by presiding officers.

The caretaker government had suspended cellular services on poll day owing to security concerns. It later stated that the decision was not easy but was taken to prevent any security mishaps.

In a statement today, ECP said the move had severely affected coordination and transport of election material.

The electoral watchdog highlighted that the first result of the 2024 election was received at 2am compared to the 2018 election result which was received at 4am.

“Except for some constituencies, the results of the elections were completed within one and a half days,” the statement said. “The delay in results in some constituencies did not benefit or harm any specific political party,” the ECP concluded.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has refuted allegations pertaining to rigging during the February 8 general elections.

In a press release, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the electoral watchdog said it does not deny the occurrence of a few irregularities and that relevant forms were available for investigation.

“Immediate decisions are being taken on complaints filed,” the statement added. “Despite difficulties and issues, the electoral process was peacefully organised.”

The ECP said conducting the elections smoothly was a “major operation” which was completed successfully.

Istehkam-i-Pakistan leader Aleem Khan has said he is “deeply saddened” by party chief Jahangir Tareen’s decision to resign and quit politics altogether.

In a shocking development, Istehkam-i-Pakistan chief Jahangir Tareen announced his decision to quit politics altogether while Sirajul Haq resigned as the emir of Jamaat-i-Islami.

“I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this election and want to offer my congratulations to my opponents,” said Tareen in a post on X.

“I have immense respect for the will of the people of Pakistan,” he said, offering his gratitude to all IPP members,“ he stated, adding that he would serve the country in a “private capacity”.

Meanwhile, Siraj said he has “accepted the responsibility for defeat” in the February 8 general elections.

Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir has said that more than 30 petitions have been filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) by his panel “Safeguard Karachi’s Vote” against the “malicious tabulation” of electoral results.

Speaking to the media in Karachi, Nasir said 17 PTI-backed candidates were being supported by the panel, adding that all candidates had similar pleas of malicious tabulation by returning officers misrepresenting the total count of Form 45 in Form 47.

In a post on X, Nasir said the SHC had given the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) till 11am tomorrow to come up with a “lawful and reasonable solution” to the issue.

He said the SHC has cautioned the ECP to not insist on any “flawed results” and to notify the returned candidates as soon as possible otherwise the court would be forced to intervene.

In another shock development, Sirajul Haq has announced his resignation as the chief of Jamaat-i-Islami.

In a post on X, he said he has “accepted the responsibility of defeat” in the February 8 general elections.

Iftikharullah Jan, an independent candidate who won the PK-64 seat from Charsadda, has decided to join the PTI, the party said in a social media post.

Hitting back at allegations of the caretaker government failing to provide a level playing field in the elections, interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar questioned what more was wanted after PTI loyalists were allowed to contest the polls.

“How come you have the largest group in the National Assembly that is being supported by the PTI. They are the single largest group and still, we are being accused that we managed the rigging.”

Kakar said the government maintained that loyalists of Imran Khan were allowed to contest the elections and “that is exactly what happened but there is no appreciation”.

Patron-in-chief of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party Jahangir Khan Tareen has resigned from the position as party chairman and decided to step away from politics altogether.

“I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this election and want to offer my congratulations to my opponents,” said Tareen in a post on X.

“I have immense respect for the will of the people of Pakistan,” he said, offering his gratitude to all IPP members.

“I wish them the absolute best,” he said.

“I will continue to serve my country to the best of my ability in a private capacity. May the next few years see Pakistan prosper,” he added.

Caretaker Anwaarul Haq Kakar has brushed off criticism from US lawmakers regarding the general elections and said that it is “not that big a deal”.

He said Pakistan had a huge diaspora in the United States, some of whom had “quite an active role in domestic politics and have their own inclinations towards domestic politics here so at times it is quite easy for you to settle there, participate in local fundraising and you’ll be able to influence one, two or a few members of US Congress”.

Kakar said US Congress members did not “represent the gospel truth” and were not the “pedestal of do [and] does [not]”.

He said there were other important issues for them to comment on.

PM Kakar has said the caretaker government continues to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“We are communicating with them and by the way the caretaker government has very good relations with the IMF. They are appreciative that we achieved our tax targets and the rest,” he said at a press conference in Islamabad.

Regarding a new deal with the IMF, the premier said the new government would take the lead on that.

PM Kakar has said he believes the February 8 general elections were held in a “free and fair manner”.

“We did not have any institutional mechanism either in fear or favour of an entity, political group or individual,” he said, adding the same was the stated policy of the caretaker government.

Regarding complaints of irregularities in the electoral process, the premier said a procedure pertaining to this had been provided by Parliament. “But I agree that the future Parliament should focus more on the electoral process, the system of balloting and rest of the issues affiliated with it.

“I personally feel we should have a more robust and financially independent election commission,” PM Kakar added.

Caretaker PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said that dialogue and legislation were needed to make the electoral process acceptable to prevent allegations regarding “interference by institutions” and manipulation by political parties.

“You have the floor of the Parliament. This cannot be decided in a talk show but can turn into a talk show […] the real place for this discussion is in Parliament and it has representation across the political spectrum.

“These [parties] need to sit together. This is a matter of the representation of Pakistan’s political class,” he said.

PM Kakar added that he was a strong advocate of legislation to “settle” Pakistan’s democratic process.

PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that her party has not finalised a candidate for premiership thus far, adding that communication with “coalition partners” was ongoing and it will be decided with their consultation.

Speaking to Geo News, Aurangzeb said a video message released by party leader Khawaja Asif was his personal opinion and did not reflect the views of the party.

Although she did not specifically mention which video message she was referring to, Asif had told Samaa TV that Nawaz Sharif would not be PML-N’s prime ministerial candidate and instead his brother Shehbaz was the party’s choice/.

“Even he said at the end of his video that talks with coalition partners are still under way,” Aurangzeb said. She also denied rumours regarding a supposed power-sharing formula, saying an agreement had been made in principle to move forward together.

Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has lamented the premature announcement of election results by media houses, saying that there was a projection of “unverified figures” in the process.

“Does anyone know how long did it take to count the votes in the General Elections 2024?” he asked. “We compiled the results in 36 hours. In 2018, it took 66 hours [to count the votes].”

“These things happen in real time and one needs to be reasonable […] we need to follow the set procedures and that is what is democracy,” the premier said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said peaceful protests are a party of democracy. “But no government can allow protests that lead the country towards anarchy,” he highlighted.

PML-N leader Atta Tarar has said his party’s candidate for the prime minister will be announced after “complete consensus” with allies.

“We are in a position where we can form a government in Punjab and we have attained simple majority,” he said at a press conference. “Regarding the Centre, deliberations are under way with PPP and MQM-P.”

Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the provincial police has “solid evidence” regarding plans to create another “May 9-like situation”.

“In this regard, if anyone even tries to do something like that, the reaction will be way more than that of May 9,” he warned. “We don’t want any such incidents to take place again […] we don’t want further division.”

Naqvi added that intelligence agencies had “caught telephonic conversations” regarding such plans.

It must be recalled that on May 9 — after the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan — from the Islamabad High Court, PTI workers held protests across the country. The protest, however, turned into riots with some mobs found attacking military installations. What followed was an intense crackdown on the PTI, which resulted in the party’s major leadership either exiting the PTI or going into hiding.

In response to Naqvi’s statement today, the PTI alleged that a “false-flag operation” was being planned against the party.

PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan against the district returning officer, returning officer and deputy commissioner of Peshawar for “tampering with papers” and “manipulating election results”.

Jhagra said he remained a “validly nominated candidate” for the PP-79 (Peshawar) seat as an independent candidate. His electoral symbol was ‘traffic light’.

In a post on X, he shared a copy of his complaint and wrote: “A grade 17 or grade 18 civil servant cannot simply fictitiously manufacture a public mandate.”

The complaint stated that PML-N candidate Jalal Khan indulged in firing at a polling station to “intimidate voters” but no action was taken. It added that after the polling, the Forms-45 were handed over to polling agents and they reflected Jhagra’s “landslide victory”.

However, he alleged, the results were “falsely changed”.

Former premier Shehbaz Sharif has congratulated the five independents, who recently switched loyalties, for joining the PML-N.

Sardar Shamshir Mazari from NA-189, Imran Akram from PP-195, Sohail Khan from PP-240, Khizr Hussain Mazari from PP-297 and Sahibzada Mohammad Gazin Abbasi from PP-249 were among those who attended the meeting.

According to a statement posted by the PML-N, all the newly inducted members expressed confidence in the leadership of Nawaz Sharif.

PTI-backed candidate Rehana Dar says the Election Commission of Pakistan has stopped the returning officer from issuing the results of the NA-71 constituency in Punjab’s Sialkot.

Rehana alleges that her opponent, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, won the seat through rigging.

In a post on X, she says the ECP summoned the RO with election results and all the records on Feb 14. “Khawaja Asif’s fake victory is soon going to turn into a defeat,” Rehana adds.

Advocate Salman Akram Raja, who contested the Feb 8 polls with the support of the PTI, said that he feels “sorry that the people’s mandate has been changed”.

Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he alleged that rigging took place in the returning officer’s (RO) office where the police was complicit in changing the results.

“Rigging can only end when the state decides that rigging has to end. What we can see is that state people were involved in rigging,” he said.

“The people should decide and their vote should be respected,” he said. He expressed dismay at the fact that those who used to talk about respecting the vote had abandoned the slogan.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam—Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Kamran Murtaza has called the Senate’s attention towards the “situation arising from recently held elections in the country”.

In a calling attention notice submitted to the Senate, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, he raised the following concerns:

1. How did the election commission (ECP), the caretaker government and other institutions conduct the elections in the country?
2. Were the election results according to the public’s expectations?
3. How many political parties accepted the election results?
4. What situation has arisen in the country after the release of the poll results?

Senator Murtaza asserted that a debate should be held in the upper house so that “no political or economic crisis arises in the coming days”, and that a solution could be found.

PPP Sindh president Senator Nisar Khuhro has said that parties protesting against the party’s success in Sindh are “insulting” the decision of the people.

In a statement, Khuhro said: “Sit-ins against the PPP’s victory in Sindh are against the people.

“If the people have rejected GDA and JUI-F then don’t ridicule the people by holding sit-ins,” he said, adding that the those organisaing the demonstrations should focus on other issues the country is facing.

“Don’t take take out anger for people’s decision on the people themselves,” Khuhro said. He stated that the parties protesting against PPP’s success were only pitting the people against themselves.

“The PPP does not need to join any other party to form the government in Sindh,” he said, adding that the PPP will lead the province without any discrimination.

Rawalpindi’s Sadiqabad police have booked 62 PTI leaders and workers for violating Section 144 and damaging state property during a rally on Sunday evening.

According to a first information report filed by Sadiqabad Sub-inspector Abdul Ghafoor on Sunday night, a rally comprising 300-350 people — led by Seemabia Tahir and Tanvir Aslam Raja — gathered outside the divisional election commissioner’s office and blocked the road at around 6:30pm.

The FIR said PTI workers gave “inciteful speeches and pelted stones on officers and employees stationed there”, which damaged the bonnet and windows of a state vehicle.

The case was registered under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs50) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code, as well as the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.

In a post on X, PTI leader Hammad Azhar stated that PML-N is finished, and Punjab is now firmly under PTI’s control. Azhar said that PTI would win the next election with a 2/3 majority.

He also warned that any PTI members caught accepting money would be taken to court for disqualification. Azhar said that they have all Form 45 and the elected member will sit in the assembly

PTI leader Hammad Azhar has said there is “heavy” police deployment outside the party’s office in Lahore.

Recalling an incident from last month when the office was allegedly “burnt down by ‘unidentified men’”, he said the place had been empty since then.

Legal expert Osama Malik has said that courts in Pakistan are in a “very delicate role” at the moment.

“They will need to decide whether to order recounts in various constituencies,” he said according to AFP.

He said that the recount in multiple constituencies could also delay the calling of parliament so the courts need to be wary of the situation.

Lawyer Ahmad Pansota has said that Form 47 issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan that “do not correspond to the Form 45” for that constituency can be challenged by the candidates before the ECP.

In a post on X, he said that the Form 47 could be challenged under sections 8 (power of commission to ensure fair election) and 9 (power of the commission to declare a poll void) of the Elections Act 2017.

PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique says all stakeholders “should be concerned about the end of political instability.”

In a post on X, the former federal minister said that hatred should not dominate decisions.

“Analyse your own mistakes. Hearts should be opened.”

“Three potential challenges are linked to the legitimacy of the elections through prolonged legal proceedings, protests and potential for violence,” said political analyst Amber Rahim Shamsi.

“In the short-term, any coalition birthed through a highly controversial election in a highly charged political environment will find it challenging to enact unpopular reforms that Pakistan desperately needs,” Shamsi told AFP.

“No government will have the luxury of time and political security after these elections,” said Shamsi.

“There are also fears that this political insecurity will continue until the next elections, which could be earlier than five years,” added Shamsi.

Former finance minister Atif Mian lamented Pakistan’s economic and political instability as election results have yet to materialise into a new government.

“Pakistan’s economy has consistently fallen behind globally — last year was one of the worse, with the economy actually contracting,” he said in a post on X.

He expressed worry over reduced investments from established firms, and a growing desire for Pakistanis to leave the country.

Acknowledging people’s anger, he noted that “every action to rig the elections was taken,” adding that “the distance between the ruler and the ruled has never been wider.”

He also noted that while close to half a million children in Pakistan are dying of poverty each year, the “establishment was busy playing its usual games.”

PTI in a post on X expressed its appreciation for Jamaat-i-Islaami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman for forfeiting his Sindh Assembly seat.

Earlier today while addressing a press conference in Karachi, Naeem had highlighted discrepancies in the vote counting.

“Therefore, I give up this seat,” Rehman said, adding that “independent candidate Saif Bari won in a genuine manner, whose votes were reduced to 11,000 from 31,000”.

It should be mentioned that Naeem had won from PS-129 (Karachi Central VIII) with 26,296 votes, according to the provisional results released by the ECP. PTI-backed independent candidate Saif Bari had gathered 11,357, according to the ECP’s Form 47.

“PTI highly appreciates this decision and expects similar honesty from other political candidates. There is no democracy without transparency,” PTI said.

“We don’t want a seat in charity. We want our right,” said Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman at a press conference in Karachi where he forfeited his Sindh Assembly seat.

He said he knew that the heart of Karachi “beat with the JI”. Acknowledging that some may not consider his decision to be the right one, he said, “Even if they have erased us, they can’t erase us from people’s hearts. We will fight for the people, democratically, hold peaceful demonstrations.”

He further said that the nation “knew everything” due to social media and a “fake mandate” could not be imposed on the people.

He called for making the election results in Karachi null and void and for holding the exercise afresh. Calling on the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice, he asked, “Chief justice sahib, where do the people go?”

Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, while addressing a press conference, said that the party would challenge the results of the seats “it had won” but was handed a defeat after the Form 47 was released.

“Those we lost, we will not claim to have won those,” he said.

“Those who have won, even if they are our opponents, we will say let those who won win and let those who lost lose,” he said.

“What is this fraud being done with the nation? If you wanted to give handwritten results then what was the point of holding elections?” he asked.