LAHORE: Pakistan’s main opposition party called on Sunday for a judicial investigation into what it said was rigging at an election this week that it lost.
Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Pakistan Movement for Justice, emerged as the largest single party in Wednesday’s vote, defeating the Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) party of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
During the campaign, Sharif said the military had influenced the judiciary to deny him a second term. The military denied this. It has ruled Pakistan for about half the time since the country’s formation in 1947.
“We demand constitution of a judicial commission to probe incidents that took place on July 25,” senior party leader Khawaja Asif told reporters in Lahore. “We will issue a white paper on the election rigging and other incidents.”
“PML-N will not accept these elections as legitimate and we are ready to ... start movement along with other parties,” Mushahid Ullah Khan, a senior leader, told reporters.
PTI did better than expected to win 16.86 million votes and beat PML-N, which got nearly 13 million votes. PTI opened coalition talks with at least one smaller party and independent politicians on Saturday.
European Union observers were critical of the political climate in the run-up to the vote, saying that some parties had been disadvantaged. The United States voiced similar concerns.
“Pakistan witnessed the most disputed elections in the country’s history,” Ahsan Iqbal, a senior leader of PML-N and former interior minister, told reporters.
Sharif was taken to hospital in Islamabad on Sunday with a possible heart problem, said a government official and Sharif’s party.
Sharif and his daughter Maryam were arrested on July 13, minutes after they returned from Britain seeking to revitalize their flagging PML-N party ahead of a July 25 election.
An anti-corruption court sentenced him on July 6 to 10 years while his daughter and political heir was sentenced to seven years over the purchase of luxury flats in London in the 1990s.
They were moved to Adiala jail in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.
“After initially refusing to be shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences ... Sharif agrees to be treated outside prison after consulting with his personal doctor,” said a PML-N tweet on Sunday night.
“Doctors at Adiala jail have observed changes in the ECG (electrocardiogram) of Nawaz Sharif,” Punjab Chief Minister Hasan Askari Rizvi told Reuters. An ECG checks the heart’s electrical activity.
“We cannot take any risk about Sharif’s health,” Rizvi said.
Pakistan opposition party calls for investigation of election ‘rigging’
Pakistan opposition party calls for investigation of election ‘rigging’
Pakistan calls for regional cooperation against climate-driven disasters after Sri Lanka cyclone
- Maritime affairs minister says Pakistani rescue teams are already on the ground supporting Sri Lanka’s recovery
- Junaid Anwar Chaudhry is on a two-day visit to Colombo to express Pakistan’s solidarity with Sri Lankan people
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday urged South Asian countries to strengthen cooperation against climate-driven disasters after a deadly cyclone battered Sri Lanka, saying the scale and frequency of extreme weather demanded coordinated regional action.
Cyclone Ditwah made landfall on the island nation on Nov. 28, triggering severe flooding and landslides that destroyed homes and infrastructure.
Sri Lankan authorities say the storm has killed more than 600 people, left hundreds missing and displaced over two million across dozens of districts, making it one of the country’s worst natural disasters in years.
“We deeply admire the quick actions taken by the Sri Lankan government and the courage shown by the affected communities,” Pakistan’s Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, who is on a two-day visit to Colombo, said during a media briefing, according to a statement.
“As I speak to you, Pakistani teams and rescue personnel are on the ground helping to save lives and support relief operations.”
He said Pakistan had dispatched a humanitarian aid package on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s directives and that its high commission and disaster-response authorities were coordinating closely with Sri Lankan officials to ensure timely delivery of supplies.
Chaudhry used the visit to call for expanded regional collaboration on early-warning systems, disaster management and maritime safety.
Reaffirming Islamabad’s solidarity, the minister added: “Pakistan stands with Sri Lanka as a reliable friend and partner today and always.”
He also invited Sri Lankan media representatives to visit Pakistan and engage with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to strengthen people-to-people ties and deepen bilateral cooperation.
