Imran Khan has dubbed the entire process the “mother of all rigging.” (document)
Islamabad:
The party of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan challenged the February 8 election in the Supreme Court on Friday, alleging widespread fraud.
Imran Khan has called the entire process the “mother of all manipulations” and has maintained that the mandate of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, was stolen due to manipulation.
The party claimed to have won 180 seats in parliament through party-backed independent candidates, but fraud reduced that number to just 92, denying it any chance of returning to power.
Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Sher Afzal Marwat told media persons that he had filed a case in the Supreme Court against poll rigging.
He also said he had questioned the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja and other members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Two days ago, the Supreme Court disposed of a petition seeking annulment of the election and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on a petitioner, a former Army officer, for failing to appear before the court after filing the petition.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, won 75 seats, with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in third place with 54 seats. Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
The PML-N and PPP have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition, given that the constitution requires a party to win 133 of the 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly to form a government. government.
Under this arrangement, the Muslim League’s Shehbaz Sharif is expected to be the prime ministerial candidate while the PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari becomes president, which could effectively end former Prime Minister Imran ·A chance for Khan to return to power.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
