ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced to sit in the opposition at the National Assembly and in the provincial legislature of Punjab, adding this was despite receiving a significant mandate in the February 8 polls which it said were heavily rigged.
Pakistan’s general elections last week were marred by a nationwide shutdown of cellphone service and unusually delayed results, leading to accusations of election manipulation.
Khan’s PTI has refused to accept the outcome, even as its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have been negotiating to finalize a power-sharing formula to rule the country through a coalition administration.
PTI-backed independent candidates emerged as the largest bloc by capturing the maximum number of seats, though the party announced a week after the national polls that it would not strive to form the government at the center.
“Politicians usually face the allegation that they have a lust for power, but we have decided to sit in the opposition at the center and in Punjab,” announced Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif of PTI while addressing a group of journalists after a meeting with the Qaumi Watan Party leadership.
He added this was despite the fact that PTI had got enough seats in the country to form its own government.
Saif said his party had received instructions from its founding leader to contact other political factions who had their own reservations regarding the recent electoral contest in the country.
He noted there was intense political anxiety in the country in the wake of the last polls, adding it was going to be a huge problem in the longer run since any attempt to undermine parliamentary democracy in the country could jeopardize the future of Pakistan’s coming generations.
Meanwhile, the PTI core committee also issued a notification on Friday, saying it was essential to stop the “open insult to the people’s mandate, the constitution, and democracy under the election commission.”
It issued a call to its followers to come out and hold peaceful protest across the country against the alleged rigging in the elections.
“Not just the PTI, but leading political parties are raising their voices against the criminal role of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commission,” it said in a social media post. “He has no justification to remain in office and should resign immediately.”