Live: Elections 2024

Balochistan remained cut off from Sindh and Punjab on Saturday as different highways and roads were blocked due to protests against alleged election rigging by workers and supporters of various political parties.

The protests also disrupted trade with Iran and Afghanistan and train services between Quetta and Chaman.

In Quetta, traffic was affected as the local administration blocked roads leading to the district returning officer’s office, where political parties continued their sit-in against the alleged change in election results.

Meanwhile, senior political leaders like the National Party president, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch; PkMAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai; PPP Balochistan President Mir Changez Khan Jamali; JUI-F provincial emir Maulana Abdul Wasey; and PTI’s Salar Khan have rejected the results and announced protests, including wheel jam strikes and blocking highways linking Balochistan with other provinces.

Read full story here.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb says the MQM-P delegation, led by convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, will visit the Sharifs at their Raiwind residence at 11:30am.

Earlier this week, former premier Nawaz Sharif had invited political parties, except for the PTI, to come together and form a coalition government, claiming that the PML-N had emerged as the “single-largest party” during the elections.

A day earlier, Aura­ngzeb told a private news channel that Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari held initial consultations, but both would consult their parties regarding the formation of a coalition government.

In a social media post earlier in the day, she said the MQM-P delegation would meet Nawaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders.

On the other hand, the PTI, JI, JUI-F and other parties have announced countrywide protests today against alleged rigging in the election results.

Around 60 million voters went to the polls on February 8 to elect their representatives, according to a preliminary reports released by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen).

It said that more than 1.1 million election officials performed election duties.

Additionally, more than 0.7 million police and military officials stood guard across the country and outside polling stations, ensuring peace and order on election day.

Fafen acknowledged the Election Commission of Pakistan for setting in place a hassle-free process of accreditation for observers, Radio Pakistan reports.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar has advised the civil servants to stay loyal to the Constitution and people of Pakistan by not becoming part of the post-poll rigging, warning them that the “delinquents” would be prosecuted against.

Hammad demanded that the Punjab police inspector general should resign immediately, alleging that under the IGP’s supervision, thousands of homes were ransacked, people killed in police custody, hundreds tortured and thousands of innocent people were jailed.

In a video message, Hammad, who is facing cases and is in hiding fearing arrest, said the people of Pakistan expect that the civil servants and police officers would neither involve themselves in rigging elections, nor facilitate it, as these were heinous crimes. “Don’t commit these heinous crimes,” he warned.

The PTI leader lauded the returning officers and district police heads “who took a stand and refused to become part of rigging”. He said such ROs and DPOs were ensuring that mandate of people of Pakistan was upheld.

Former federal minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and 10 others have been booked for interfering in polling process and slapping a policeman who was performing security duty at a polling station in Sialkot on Feb 8.

As per the first information report (FIR), registered on the complaint of Amjad Ali, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Sialkot Sadar police station, the complainant was performing election duty at the Government Boys High School Gana Kalan polling station on Feb 8.

It said that former federal minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, who was a candidate of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) from National Assembly Constituency NA-70, arrived at the polling station, with her supporters, and allegedly started interfering in the polling process illegally.

The complainant said when he asked the IPP leader to not to interfere in the polling process, she slapped him on his face and used abusive language against him.

The PTI has said the release of political prisoners and acceptance of its mandate to rule was the only “healing touch” that the establishment could offer post elections, Barrister Gohar Khan has said.

His remarks came after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir stated that the nation needs “stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation”.

In an interview with Arab News, Barrister Gohar said: “Healing touch would mean that you [army] got to make sure that there are no political prisoners anymore in Pakistan.

“[PTI] mandate has to be respected. Short of it there can be no healing touch.”

“United government means that every party should be united in one thing, which is that you have to respect and regard people’s mandate first,” Gohar said. “The people have spoken [through the vote] and for the first time they have spoken in a very tough situation [amid a crackdown against PTI].”

As it managed to retain almost all national seats from Rawalpindi and Murree, the PML-N also clinched nine out of 14 Punjab Assembly seats from these districts, effectively cementing the party’s hold on its bastion of the garrison city. The rest of the five seats went to PTI-backed independent candidates and a Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen nominee.

In 2018, there were 15 seats in Rawalpindi while in 2024 general elections, the number of seats was reduced to 13 for Rawalpindi and one for Murree — a newly created district — after the new delimitation exercise.

In complete contrast to these election results, the PTI had bagged 14 seats out of 15 in the 2018 polls, whereas one seat went to then-disgruntled PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

According to the unofficial results issued by ECP, PML-N candidates Muhammad Bilal Yamin won PP-6 (Rawalpindi I) in Murree, Shaukat Raja won PP-9 (Rawalpindi-III) in Gujar Khan, Naeem Ejaz won PP-10 (Rawalpindi IV), Imran Ilyas Ch bagged PP-11 (Rawalpindi V) in Taxila, Mohsin Ayub Khan clinched PP-12 (Rawalpindi VI) in Taxila, Malik Iftikhar Ahmad won PP-14 (Rawalpindi VIII), Malik Mansoor Afsar bagged PP-15 (Rawalpindi IX), Ziaullah Shah won PP-16, (Rawalpindi X), and Abdul Latif won PP-17.

Read more here.

PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan has alleged that Form 47s of 18 National Assembly seats have been “falsely changed” by returning officers.

“These seats have been won by PTI. The mandate given by the people of Karachi to PTI is being stolen by these corrupt, spineless bureaucrats,” he said.

Aleema Khan, sister of former prime minister Imran Khan, has said PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s premature declaration of victory in polls is an “insult to Pakistanis”.

She believes independents have a two-thirds majority and the right to govern.

In an interview with Sky News, Aleema said her brother inspired a revolution in Pakistan from behind bars on Feb 8. “He [Imran] sent out a very clear instruction that you have to go out, protest outside the returning offices and recover your seats. The ones that have been stolen,” she said.

“It wasn’t Imran Khan’s vote that they took away.

“They took away the right of 15 million people to recognise the symbol. That bat was a symbol that 15 million people who are illiterate recognise their candidate with,” Aleema added.

Courts have been flooded with legal challenges as candidates challenged the provisional results in their constituencies in a bid to turn the tide.

A vast majority of those filing such challenges were PTI-backed independents, including high-profile politicians such as Parvez Elahi and his wife Qaisera, former KP finance minister Taimoor Jhagra and ex-KP speaker Mahmood Jan, Islamabad-based lawyer Shuaib Shaheen, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, as well as Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar.

In Lahore, the victories of former PM Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Attaullah Tarar and former defence minister Khawaja Asif were assailed in separate petitions before the high court, which allege manipulation of Form 47s.

The petitioners claim that they were successful against their opponents as per the Form 45 handed to them. However, in their absence, their victories were allegedly turned into defeats in the Form 47. The have also alleged collusion in the alteration of election results and demand that the results of Form 47 be prepared according to the Form 45s.

The Commonwealth Observer Group to Pakistan have expressed the hope that the election result process would conclude effectively and reflect the will of people, urging the public to exercise restraint.

Sharing preliminary findings of the group, the head of the observer mission, Goodluck Jonathan called upon the candidates to be magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat.

“We call on all those with grievances to address disputes through prescribed election dispute resolution mechanisms.”

He said the group noted the impact of legal decisions on some candidates’ ability to run for office in the days leading up to election day, including a decision that disallowed the electoral symbol of a main political party.

Read full story here.

The results of the eagerly-awaited Feb 8 general elections have sparked concerns about the potential for achieving political and economic stability after a long wait of over a year in the country.

Policymakers are also wondering whether the new government in waiting can maintain the economic stability achieved by the caretaker government in six months.

The split mandate may hinder economic stability in the next few months, but experts believe the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) could play a crucial role in implementing politically unpopular economic policies.

Many experts anticipate the next government will seek a new IMF accord. This would require harsh economic decisions to stabilise the economy for at least three years.

Read more here

As its fou­nder apparently agr­eed to let bygones be byg­ones, the PTI has said it will form governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal government in the Centre after the independent candidates backed by the Imran-led party secured a purported lead in the 2024 polls.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail yesterday, PTI lawyer Umair Khan Niazi said PTI founder Imran Khan has decided to form the government in the Centre and in KP and Punjab provinces after the victory of his symbol-less party.

As per Niazi — who is also the newly-elected MNA from Imran Khan’s hometown of Mianwali — the PTI leader has called on the powers-that-be not to let Nawaz Sharif form the coalition government because “this experiment did not work in the past”.

Niazi said Imran was ready to move on to end political stability and for the future of the country. The lawyer said the candidates of the PTI who were defeated through rigging have been asked by the party founder to take to the streets in their constituencies on Sunday to protest the apparent rigging.

Read more here.

It will be a busy Sunday in Lahore as an MQM-P delegation is in the city, on the invitation of the PML-N, to discuss their post-election strategy.

Earlier this week, former premier Nawaz Sharif had invited political parties, except for the PTI, to come together and form a coalition government, claiming that the PML-N had emerged as the “single-largest party” post elections.

He had tasked brother Shehbaz Sharif with the job of reaching out to the chief of PPP, JUI-F and MQM-P.

Speaking to a private TV channel last night, PML-N spok­e­s­person Marriyum Aura­ngzeb said that Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari held initial consultations, but both would consult their parties regarding the formation of a coalition government.

Read more here.

JUI-F has announced to “launch a protest campaign” against the “rigging”, asking the workers to stage a sit-in on the main highways across Sindh and block the key road links of the province.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Republican member, has applauded Pakistanis for widespread participation in this week’s elections.

“Any allegations of corruption or fraud must be fully investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable. The United States supports the right of the Pakistani people to a democratically elected government that respects the rule of law and human rights,” he said in a post shared on social media.

Karachi police have fired tear gas shells and baton-charged a rally of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) against alleged rigging in the general elections.

Soldier Bazaar police Station House Officer (SHO) Shahzad Ilyas said that TLP workers tried to gather at a busy intersection at Numaish Chowrangi on main M.A. Jinnah Road near Mazar-i-Quaid.

As law enforcers did not allow them to gather there, the TLP workers staged a sit-in at Nishtar Park in Soldier Bazaar, the SHO said, adding that the police resorted to “light” baton charges and tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

TLP spokesperson Rehan Khan claimed that around 40 workers were detained while the SHO said around 17-18 activists were taken into custody. The detainees were later released without charges.

Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir has said that candidates for Karachi’s National Assembly and Sindh Assembly seats are preparing petitions and will file them in the Sindh High Court on Monday against the results of Form-47s for their constituencies in the general elections.

He told Dawn.com that PTI-backed candidate Khurram Sher Zaman has engaged Advocate Muhammed Umer Lakhani to pursue his case for Karachi’s NA-241 against PPP’s Ikhtiar Baig.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered re-polling in specific polling stations of NA-88 (Khushab II), PS-18 (Ghotki I), and PK-90 (Kohat I) following alleged rigging on Feb 8.

In a statement, the ECP spokesperson announced re-polling at 26 polling stations of NA-88 after a mob reportedly set fire to polling material at the returning officer’s office. The re-polling is scheduled for February 15.

Re-polling in PS-18, attributed to reported confiscation of polling material by unidentified people, is also slated for Feb 15.

Likewise, re-polling will be conducted at 25 polling stations of PK-90 due to damage caused to polling material by terrorists, the ECP said.

Furthermore, the ECP has sought a report from the district regional officer within three days regarding alleged vandalism at one polling station of NA-242 (Karachi Keamari-I).

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has said the party is thinking about why it has lost from its traditional strongholds, adding that the party was not “insensitive or oblivious” to it.

She said the PML-N was going through the process of introspection on the election results.

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that contacts and discussions have begun with other parties such as the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan.

She said the mandate of all parties would need to be respected.

Aurangzeb said the PML-N would not exclude “other parties” from the process since they were a “political reality”.

Incarcerated PTI leader Aliya Hamza’s husband Hamza Jamil Malik has moved the Lahore High Court against PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz’s unofficial election victory from NA-118.

The petition named the returning officer (RO) of NA-118, the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Punjab police chief, Lahore’s police chief and Hamza as respondents.

According to the petition, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the form-47 submitted by the RO should be “cancelled, set aside and declared illegal”.

“It is further prayed that respondent No. 1 (RO) may please be directed to issue form-47 in accordance with form-45 issued to petitioner,” it said.

It said that form-47 was issued in the absence of the petitioner or his election agent thus it is liable to be set aside, adding that the RO became “biased on the grounds”.

It said that the RO acted illegally and outside his legal capacity.

Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has asserted that the federal, Punjab and Balochistan governments cannot be formed without the PPP.

Talking to Geo News today, he said the PPP had representation in all the provinces, adding that it would be premature to say who is forming the government.

“We don’t know the whole count nor have independents announced their decisions,” Bilawal added. “No government will be able to solve the public’s problems without addressing the political toxicity.”

He was of the view that it would be beneficial for the country if a political consensus was formed between all the parties.

“The central executive committee of PPP had named me as the PM candidate but if we have to change that another meeting needs to be called and we will decide on how to move forward,” Bilawal concluded.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that his party has not had any official conversation with PML-N, the PTI or any other political parties on a possible coalition.

Speaking to Geo News today, the former foreign minister accepted that his party would not be able to form a government by itself.

When asked if he or his father Asif Zardari had any meeting with PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal said: “I am in no position to confirm any such meeting. When all the results are in front of us, we will be in a position to engage with others.”

Bilawal also made it clear that no independent candidate from the PTI bloc had contacted him or any PPP leader so far.

“We are in touch with some independents but no independent from the PTI bloc has contacted us so far,” he said.

On Friday, British news outlet The Independent published a blog on its live updates for Pakistan’s general elections titled: “Curfew imposed in Islamabad.”

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claimed development from The Independent report is misleading.

Section 144 and not a curfew was imposed in Islamabad on Friday and both the blog post and the X post of the capital police confirm this since they do not make any mention of a curfew.

This fact check has been published in partnership with iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP.

Several internet users have reported outage of X (formerly Twitter) across the country with Netblocks also confirming the diruption to the micro-blogging website.

Activist Usama Khilji noted that X remained inaccessible across Pakistan even after two days since the elections, amid reports of online allegations of poll rigging.

Another activist Ammar Rashid expressed concern that frequent mass communication shutdowns were compromising transparency and being used to manipulate political outcomes.

A user named Farid Khan questioned the reasons behind the issues with X.

Moreover, PTI Karachi highlighted that X services were experiencing widespread slowdowns across the country.

Videos and posts circulating on social media platform X on Friday quoted foreign media outlets as reporting that the PTI had won over 150 seats in the general elections. No proof was found, however, for such reports having been aired.

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim regarding foreign media reporting a PTI win over 150 seats is false. The attached video presented as evidence for the claim did not report any such thing or even mention the number.

Read more here.

Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq has said the party has become a national-level organisation at the “3rd or 4th level” after the general elections.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, he said: “I accept that we have not shown the numbers in the National Assembly but we have still spread our revolutionary message to the people.”

He said that the imposition of Islamic law was the only solution to the issues of the country at every level.

“We have received more votes than before and we have moved forward.”

PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has called on party workers and supporters to hold a protest tomorrow outside the offices of returning officers in constituencies where the poll results were being “withheld and delayed”.

“According to [Imran] Khan sahib’s instructions, the areas in which our results were withheld and delayed — we will share that list with you — and intentionally our majority is being converted… to turn a winning seat into a defeat.

“This is why, God-willing, the areas in which the results were not declared, we will hold protests tomorrow in those constituencies outside the relevant RO offices.”

Gohar added that the protest would be peaceful, urging party workers and supporters to protest “according to the law”, adding that it was a constitutional right.

President Arif Alvi has said that Pakistan could have avoided the crisis stemming from the delay in election results if electronic voting machines (EVMs) — a system strongly advocated by PTI during their tenure — were in use.

In a post on X, the president reminisced about the party’s struggle for enforcement of electronic voting machines, asking “remember our long struggle for electronic voting machines”.

“EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been available & printed within five minutes of closing of poll,” he said.

He added that the entire effort that included more than 50 meetings at the Presidency alone was “scuttled”.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a re-poll would be conducted in Punjab’s NA-88 for 26 polling stations on Feb 15.

Earlier, a Dawn report had stated, “In NA-88, Khushab, Moazam Kallu, an independent candidate, was elected.” It had said he was also affiliated with the PML-N.

In the Punjab Assembly, the PTI has claimed victory on 39 NA seats out of the 45 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking to the media, Barrister Gohar Khan further claimed it was the “first time in Pakistan’s history that a party had won these many National Assembly seats from KP”.

He said that the party had won the majority of the provincial seats in KP and was “heading towards” winning a majority in the Punjab Assembly.

Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar anticipates the formation of a coalition government, which he believes will need to be negotiated among political parties.

“It appears that no single party is poised to form the government independently. I anticipate the formation of a coalition — a coalition of whosoever,” he told TRT World.

He added that once the process concludes, one might hope for some stability in addressing the economic crisis. The premier emphasised that Pakistan critically needed both political and economic stability.

PTI leader Barrister Gohar Khan has claimed that the PTI has won 170 National Assembly seats out of the 265 where elections were held.

Speaking to the media, he said, “We claim with great certitude that right now, the PTI has achieved a lead on 170 seats of the National Assembly.

“Out of these, 94 are those that the ECP is admitting and has issued Form-47 (provisional results),” he added.

Gohar further said that 22 seats — including three of Islamabad, four of Sindh and the rest of Punjab — were those where according to Form-45, the PTI had won but were “converted to a defeat”.

Caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said that there was no political motive behind communications blackout on the election day, adding that people were able to peacefully exercise their right to vote.

In an interview with TRT World, he emphasised that the government’s primary responsibility has always been the security and well-being of the people.

Referring to two violent incidents occurring in Balochistan the day before the election, he highlighted the ongoing security challenges faced by the government.

He further stated that part of addressing these challenges involved temporarily blocking communication channels to counter terrorist activities.

PTI leader Gohar Khan has said there was an “apparent attempt to shape the winning seats of the PTI into defeats”.

Speaking to the media, he said people used their right to vote peacefully on February 8 on ex-premier Imran Khan’s call.

He said it was the ECP’s “constitutional and legal responsibility” to declare polling results by 2am the next day and to explain the reasons if there was a delay.

Stating that the ECP’s “last responsibility was to compile the results in a transparent manner”, Gohar said that according to the law, the contesting candidate, an election agent and an authorised observer needed to be present during the compilation process.