New Delhi: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announce the full results of the general elections by midnight on Saturday, warning of protests in the areas where the results are still pending. PTI, which claims to have won 170 seats in the National Assembly, including 101 seats by independent candidates who have pledged their support to the party, has accused the ECP and the returning officers (RO) of rigging the elections and delaying the results.
PTI chairman Gauhar Ali Khan, who took over the party leadership after Imran Khan was convicted on corruption charges, held a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday and said that his party had the right to form the government at the Center as well as in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces, where it had secured a majority of seats. He said that PTI had evidence of Form 45, which is a document that shows the vote count at each polling station, to prove that its candidates had won the elections, but the ROs had declared them unsuccessful.
Gauhar Khan also appealed to the “establishments” and the judiciary to respect the mandate of the people who had voted for PTI’s slogan of “slavery is unacceptable”. He said that the country’s economy and stability could not afford to reject the will of the people. He said that PTI supporters would stage peaceful protests outside the offices of the ROs in the areas where the results were delayed, and urged the ECP to declare the full results by midnight.
The general elections in Pakistan, which were held on Thursday, have been marred by allegations of irregularities, violence, and media censorship. The ECP has admitted that it faced technical glitches in transmitting the results, but has denied any foul play. The main opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which is led by the brother of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has rejected the results and called for a re-election. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is led by the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has also expressed reservations over the transparency of the elections. The final results of the elections are expected to be announced on Sunday.
