Imran Khan opts for judicial process against bogus charges

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[color=#008040]PTI-backed independents lead[/color]

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, independent candidates won 102 seats. The majority of the independents are affiliated with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the CNN reported

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz party (PMLN), headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, came in second with 73 seats, and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 54 seats.

None of the three major parties of the country will win the necessary 169 seats to have a majority in parliament and, therefore, will be unable to form government on their own, leaving it unclear who will be picked as the country’s next prime minister.

The results were announced more than three days after the polls closed in Thursday’s highly contentious election which was marred by violence and subject to allegations of poll rigging.

The PTI party has called on party workers and supporters to hold protests on Sunday outside polling offices in constituencies where party members say election results were “withheld and delayed.”

The capital Islamabad has imposed Section 144, allowing police to take legal action against any illegal assemblies and activities.

https://en.mehrnews.com/news/211905/PTI ... -elections

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Pakistan election process

This comes as candidates aligned with imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan maintained a lead in election results thus far

Washington on Friday questioned the implementation of "undue restrictions" during Pakistan's electoral process and voiced concerns regarding accusations of potential vote-rigging.

"We join credible international and local election observers in their assessment that these elections included undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly," a statement by State Department Matthew Miller read.

This comes as candidates aligned with imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan maintained a lead in election results thus far.

Despite facing a crackdown targeting the party, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was performing better than anticipated.

Geo News revealed that independents, who are more lenient towards Khan, had won 47 of 106 seats for which it had results, noting that a total of 265 seats were up for grabs in yesterday's election.

Khan stated before that the military is working against his party, as analysts and opponents claim that Sharif is being backed by the military

"I am confident that we will form a government," a close aide to Sharif, Ishaq Dar, informed GEO TV, adding that the PML-N could partake in a coalition with the support of independents.

However, it was still likely that the next government would be formed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after a period of political negotiations and bargaining.

The government also stated that before the elections yesterday, it stopped mobile phone services as a security measure and then partially initiated them.

Miller said Washington looked forward to "timely, complete results that reflect the will of the Pakistani people," as he listed US concerns with the process.

"We join credible international and local election observers in their assessment that these elections included undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly," Miller said in a statement.

"We condemn electoral violence, restrictions on the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including attacks on media workers, and restrictions on access to the Internet and telecommunication services, and are concerned about allegations of interference in the electoral process. Claims of interference or fraud should be fully investigated."

However, Miller emphasized that the administration of President Joe Biden was "prepared to work with the next Pakistani government, regardless of political party, to advance our shared interests," which includes trade, investment, and security cooperation.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... khan-allie

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Pakistan police vows crackdown

Pakistani police have issued a warning of cracking down on what they called "illegal gatherings" after imprisoned former PM Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party urged supporters to take to the streets peacefully following last week's elections

Independent candidates garnered the most seats in the polls, cutting off the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win a majority, with PTI leaders claiming that they could have taken more seats if it wasn't for rigging in the votes.

Suspicions arose when a nationwide election-day mobile blackout and the slow counting of results made it seem as if a military establishment was influencing the process to garner success for the PML-N, which is former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party.

During a press conference, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan said, "Throughout Pakistan elections were manipulated in a subtle way," as he urged supporters to "protest peacefully" on Sunday. However, police warned that the so-called Section 144 orders were in effect, which is a colonial-era law prohibiting gatherings of two or more people.

Islamabad's police force announced, "Some individuals are inciting illegal gatherings around the Election Commission and other government offices," adding, "Legal action will be taken against unlawful assemblies. It should be noted that soliciting for gatherings is also a crime."

US interference

Zahid Hussain, a political analyst and author, explained that the results have clearly indicated that "no single party possesses a simple majority to establish a government," noting, "The political future of the country from this point onward is highly uncertain."

General Syed Asim Munir said in a statement released Saturday, "The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people."

However, it was still likely that the next government would be formed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after a period of political negotiations and bargaining.

On the Western side, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that Washington was concerned about "steps that were taken to restrict freedom of expression, specifically around internet and cellphone use," adding that the US condemns election-related violence in both run-up polls and election day.

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/pol ... i-protests

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All Eyes on Imran

Pakistani President offers immunity to Imran Khan amid rift with army. Imran Khan refuses, opts for judicial process

In the wake of the upheaval that followed the February 8 elections in Pakistan, President Arif Alvi has extended an “immunity offer” to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a bid to shield him from dozens of charges filed against him. His refusal to accept this offer has heightened political tensions and could exacerbate the discord between his party and the powerful army, sources told CNN-News18.

The PTI-elected president intends to use Article 45 of Pakistan’s constitution, which allows for the pardoning of individuals facing legal ramifications. Alvi wants to alleviate the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician from what he termed as “bogus charges.” Yet, Imran Khan remains adamant in his decision to pursue legal recourse, despite knowing the judiciary’s perceived biases

Meanwhile, Pakistan is now gearing up to elect a new president. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to hold an election for the office of the country’s president by March 9, two days before the retirement of half of the senators after completing their six-year term. Since the general elections were held on February 8, the presidential election is required to be conducted by March 9, just two days before the retirement of half of the 100-member Senate.

Pakistan media reports said the Senate elections were also due in the first week of March, but because of the delay in the general elections of the National and provincial assemblies, the Senate elections will now be held either in the last week of March or the first week of April. This report about the “immunity offer” comes amid a reported surge in threats against Khan and his family, including his third wife, Bushra Bibi.

A recent CNN-News18 expose unveiled alarming details, suggesting a concerted effort to eliminate Khan and his loved ones. It was reported that Khan’s spouse narrowly escaped a potential threat. Further complicating matters, Khan reportedly declined overtures from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for a negotiated settlement. The purported terms of the offer included retirement from politics or selection of alternative Prime Minister candidates, all of which Khan rebuffed adamantly.

https://www.news18.com/world/exclusive- ... 92419.html

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Opposition from Imran Khan’s PTI

Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to form a coalition with Shehbaz Sharif selected as candidate for PM

Two of Pakistan’s leading political parties have reached a formal agreement to form a coalition government, they say, days after inconclusive national elections did not return a clear majority.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) now have the “required numbers” to form a government, PMLN President and former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

Sitting beside Sharif at a news conference in Islamabad, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, former foreign minister and chairperson of the PPP, confirmed that Sharif would be their coalition’s candidate for prime minister.

He added that his father, Asif Ali Zardari, would be the alliance’s candidate for president.

Sharif, who is the younger brother of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said the PMLN-PPP coalition also had the support of other smaller parties.

The announcement comes after 10 days of intense negotiations following the February 8 elections, which resulted in a hung National Assembly when no party secured the 134 seats needed for a simple majority and to form government on its own.

Independent candidates aligned with another leading political party – jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – won the most seats at 93 but did not have the numbers or a political party or coalition that would enable them to govern.

PTI-aligned candidates were forced to run as independents in the face of state restrictions against the party.

The PMLN is the largest party with 79 seats, and the PPP is second with 54. They along with four other smaller parties have a comfortable majority in the legislature of 264 seats.

In response to the announcement by the two parties, the PTI, which had also been trying to form coalitions with smaller parties, branded their rivals “mandate thieves” in a post on the social media platform X.

The PTI has alleged there was widespread vote rigging in the elections, a claim that was seemingly backed up when a senior bureaucrat on Saturday admitted to his involvement in changing election results.

The PTI faced a severe crackdown from government agencies and security forces in the weeks before the elections

In January, the party was even denied the use of its election symbol, the cricket bat, which resulted in its candidates running as independents instead of as members of the party itself.

Meanwhile, the social media platform X has been disrupted across Pakistan since Saturday when the vote manipulation admission was made public and people went out into the streets to protest.

“X has been inaccessible in Pakistan [since Saturday] because it is used by the public to protest,” Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist told the Agence France-Presse news agency. However, Pakistan’s government has not acknowledged the outage.

The delay in forming a government in Pakistan – a nuclear-armed nation of 241 million people – has caused concern as the country grapples with an economic crisis amid slow growth and record inflation and rising violence by armed groups. It needs a stable administration with the authority to take tough decisions.

Bhutto Zardari said on Tuesday that the PPP and PMLN would push to form a government as soon as possible.

According to the country’s constitution, a session of parliament has to be called by February 29, after which a vote for a new prime minister will take place.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/2 ... -khans-pti

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Imran Khan to be released

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sardar Latif Khosa has asserted that PTI founder Imran Khan will walk free from jail in current month. The former prime minister’s sentence in the Toshakhana case has been suspended by the court while the cipher case will not stand even a week, he said during his appearance on a private TV channel

Downplaying former prime minister Imran Khan’s conviction in the cipher case, Khosa said that the documents were not presented before the court in the case while the PTI founder’s presence was not proved in any case related to the May 9 riots. The PTI leader reiterated that the PTI founder will neither cut a deal for his release nor will he leave the country.

According to Latif Khosa, Khan wanted all institutions to act as per the Constitution of Pakistan and was against the politics of revenge. On political dialogue, the PTI leader said that the dialogue with the PTI founder will be possible after returning the party’s mandate it secured in the February 8 election.—INP

https://pakobserver.net/pti-founder-to- ... ent-month/