Pakistan’s PTI Party Claims ‘Blatant Rigging’ in By-Polls – World News
Published on: May 2, 2024.
Filed under:
Jailed ex-Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has accused the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of “blatant rigging” in the recent by-polls, according to a media report on Tuesday.
On Sunday, by-polls were held for 21 national and provincial assembly seats amidst tight security. To maintain law and order, cellular and internet services were suspended in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan.
Unofficial results on Monday showed that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, won at least two national and 10 provincial assembly seats.
The PTI leaders declared April 21 as a “black day” in the history of Pakistan, alleging “open and blatant violations of law”. They called on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to withhold the notifications of results and announced a series of protests starting Friday.
The PTI expressed doubts about the credibility of the top electoral watchdog and questioned why the Election Commission of Pakistan didn’t involve returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers from the judiciary.
The by-polls included two seats each of the National Assembly in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one seat in Sindh, and 12 seats of the Punjab Assembly, as well as two seats each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies.
Source: [Financial Express](https://www.financialexpress.com)
