Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan remains defiant as Pakistan’s main opposition parties announce coalition and conspire to block his party from assuming power.
On Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th February, as the final results of the Pakistan General election were being declared, thousands of supporters of Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan and members of other political parties blocked main highways and began strike action as they gathered in Pakistan’s capital Karachi, outside the provisional election office to protest alleged rigging of last week’s elections.
Violent clashes between PTI supporters and police in Rawalpindi and Lahore
Violent clashes between protesters and the police and security forces were also reported in Rawalpindi city and in Lahore, where reports suggest that police fired tear gas and made baton charges at protesters in order to force their dispersal.
The nationwide swelling of public support and protests for Imran Khan and his PTI party, did not prevent the opposition parties – Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PM-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), from announcing their intention to form a coalition and to forming the next government. Imran Khan has pledged never to form an alliance with the same two parties, which he alleges conspired to overturn his government and to have him removed from power in a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
Despite a failure to secure a majority of seats in Pakistan’s parliament – the largest number of which was secured by affiliates of Imran Khan’s now outlawed PTI party, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PM-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), on Tuesday announced that they have come to an agreement to form a new coalition to govern the country. The most senior figures in Pakistan’s Army – which have for several decades stood resolutely behind Sharif and the PM-N, have made it known that they will be supporting the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, in its collaboration to achieve a majority with other smaller parties.
Widespread electoral rigging is alleged to have robbed PTI affiliates of their seats
Imran Khan’s party affiliates, who were forced to run as independents, according to officially declared poll figures, won 93 out of 265 seats in the lower house of the National Assembly. In the early hours of the election polling, newspaper outlets had reported the PTI affiliates as having secured as many as 150 seats – which would have given them a clear majority. Independent candidates across the country have insisted that seats have been stolen from them in a programme of election rigging which is rife. Yasmin Rashid, who ran as an independent ,was just one of many who believe that they won their seats and that the official polls do not reflect the truth. They allege that they were victims of electoral interference.
PTI has been given the ‘people’s mandate to form the next government’
Nawaz Sharif’s party – the Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz, managed to secure just 75 seats, with the Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, securing 54 seats. PTI supporters and leadership insist that they have been given a ‘peoples mandate’t o form the next government, despite not having achieved the required 134 seats to achieve a majority.
Imran Khan calls on his supporters to celebrate a victory
In a statement issued by Imran Khan post the results, the former Prime Minister called on his supporters to celebrate a victory, which he said was achieved ‘despite a crackdown on his party’. He said:
‘PTI will never compromise on people’s will, and I have categorically instructed my party against engaging with any political party that has robbed people’s mandate, including PPP, PMLN & MQM. As the people of Pakistan have clearly pronounced their verdict, there is a dire need for democracy and fairness in Pakistan’s elections. I warn against the misadventure of forming a government with stolen votes. Such daylight robbery will not only be a disrespect to the citizens, but will also push the country’s economy further into a downward spiral’
‘You will have to bring Khan back’
Latif Khosa, the Leader of Imran Khan’s PTI Party also added his voice to that of the jailed former premier, he said:
‘No assembly or parliament can function without Imran Khan. No government can be formed without Imran Khan. So rid yourself of the misunderstanding that by minusing Imran they will be able to operate a democracy or the government. You will have to bring Imran Khan back.’
PTI officials assert that it was banned from hosting election political rallies, that it was prevented from fielding any polling agents on election day and was subject to internet restrictions. These issues they argue, underpin PTI’s claims that the elections were anything but free and fair. Independents affiliated to Imran Khan’s party PTI, won the most seats in Pakistan’s lower parliament, although as independents they are not deemed to represent a party which according to the constitution can form a government. Nevertheless, the size of their electoral success came as a shock to most political pundits, given the overwhelming nature of restrictions imposed on them.
Opposition parties entered coalition talks as no single party had achieved enough seats to win a majority.
Khan has made it clear that he will never enter coalition talks with PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League) and PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party).
Imran Khan has been prevented from holding public office for ten years and from running as a candidate in the elections, following his convictions for treason, corruption or ‘graft’ as it is known and also for having an un-Islamic marriage. The three convictions resulting from court cases in the last six months include a 10-year tariff for corruption (selling state gifts), 10 years for treason (revealing confidential state information – the ‘Cypher’ case) and 14 years imprisonment for both Khan and his wife for false marriage. He still faces more than 150 other indictments in the courts.
Speaking to the press, on Monday, Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, suggested that her brother had inspired a revolution from behind bars and that the elections were rife with voter fraud. She spoke of the outlawing of the cricket bat symbol which had been carried by many who were illiterate as a symbol of support for Imran Khan. She urged independent PTU affiliates to protest outside returning offices and recover their stolen seats. She said:
‘It wasn’t Imran Khan’s PTI votes that they took away, they took away the right of 15 million people to recognise the symbol. That bat was the symbol that 15 million illiterate people recognised the candidate with the symbol…The time has come that you have to respect the peoples vote.’
When asked about possible collaboration with the other parties, she added:
‘If you go and sit with people who were participants in the abuse, the human rights abuse, the women – the way they were abused, the homes that were broken into, the children that were threatened, I would never expect them to be supported’
PTI affiliates ‘have to recover their stolen seats and then you form a government’
Asked about Nawaz Sharif’s declaration of victory she said:
‘As a Pakistani, first tell him to give back all the seats he has stolen…Nawaz Sharif has been sent back – he spends four years in London, they plunder all our wealth and I think its a big insult to Pakistanis that we accept people like that, we don’t. I’ve been embarrassed for people to think that this is acceptable to us – it isnt acceptable to Pakistanis. They were helpless in challenging, because they had no alternative. And that’s what Imran Khan was, an alternative. They have to recover their stolen seats and then you form a government’
