ISLAMABAD: The Punjab police arrested a leader of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Saturday amid nationwide protest by its followers against what they described as “brazen rigging” in the February 8 general elections which did not result in a decisive mandate for any political party.
Khan’s PTI was severely hamstrung ahead of the national polls, with rallies banned, its party symbol taken away, and dozens of its candidates rejected from eligibility to stand. Despite all these challenges, the party stunned everyone after independent candidates, mostly loyal to its founding leader, grabbed over 100 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of Pakistan’s parliament.
However, the PTI urged its supporters to protest election rigging, saying it was deprived of a “two-third majority” in parliament. During one such demonstration in the eastern city of Lahore, police arrested Salman Akram Raja, who contested the national polls from NA-128 but was notified to have lost the contest.
“They are arresting me illegally,” Raja told the media shortly before being carried away by the police. “I stand with the people and will continue to raise my voice for justice.”
Only a day ago, he told the international media in Islamabad he was leading the race by 100,000 votes before he was forced to leave the election office in violation of the relevant laws. In the morning, he discovered that his opponent had secured 172,000 votes and defeated him.
The PTI shared the video of Raja’s arrest, calling it “Extremely shameful and disgusting act.”
“He must be immediately released,” it added.
Prior to that, the PTI asked its followers to come out into the streets to protest the alleged rigging in the elections.
“Imran Khan’s PTI has called for country wide protests against the unprecedented, massive, brazen rigging in General Elections 2024, where PTI’s win of 180 National Assembly seats & a two-third majority in Parliament, was cut down to half,” the PTI said on X.
Pakistan’s election commission has denied the accusations and said legal forums were present to address any specific concerns relating to the polls.
Hammad Azhar, a PTI member, invited all political parties affected by the alleged irregularities in election to join their peaceful protest on Saturday.
He also announced locations for protests in the country’s most populous Punjab province and in the federal capital of Islamabad.
Protests were also called in several other cities across the country, including Karachi and Quetta.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad police said it had not yet received any request for a rally by the PTI.
“No rally or procession will be allowed inside the high security zone,” they said on X, adding more personnel have been summoned for Saturday’s protest.
“Legal action will be taken in case of blocking the road and illegal assembly,” the Islamabad police said, quoting its inspector-general.
This is the third time since the election that Khan’s PTI, along with other political parties, have staged protests in various parts of the country over election irregularities, especially over prolonged delays in the release of final results. The party has challenged these results in several constituencies.
Khan, who has been in jail since August last year after he was convicted in a case involving the sale of state gifts, accuses Pakistan’s powerful military of sidelining him and his party from politics. The military denies Khan’s accusations and says it does not interfere in political matters.
On Friday, his party announced sitting in opposition in parliament and in the provincial legislature of Punjab, saying this was despite receiving a significant mandate in the Feb. 8 polls.
“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,” PTI’s Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said.
