Live: Elections 2024

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.