Pakistan lawmakers take oath following election marred by rigging allegations
Published on: March 1, 2024.
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Lawmakers Sworn In During First Sitting of Pakistan’s New Parliament
ISLAMABAD – The first sitting of Pakistan’s new parliament took place today with lawmakers being sworn in, three weeks after an election tainted by allegations of rigging. The February 8 poll was held while ex-prime minister Imran Khan was in jail and barred from running, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party faced a campaign of arrests and censorship.
Despite the crackdown, Khan’s followers managed to win more seats than any other party. However, the military-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected to form a coalition government that will keep PTI out of power. Under the coalition agreement, former premier Shehbaz Sharif, who ousted Khan in a 2022 no-confidence vote, will be elected prime minister again in the coming days.
Parliamentarians arrived at the 336-seat National Assembly in Islamabad this morning and took their oaths of office. PTI members, who ran as independents in the election, arrived at parliament with portraits of Khan, a defiant show of support as Sharif and other PML-N leaders entered the chamber.
“In democracy, the parliament is a sacred place,” said PTI’s acting chief Gohar Ali Khan. “Those who don’t have public trust and don’t have the mandate should not be sitting here.”
The PML-N, led by the Sharif family, has agreed to govern with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is run by the dynasty of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, as well as several smaller factions. In exchange, the PPP has been promised the office of the president for their patriarch and Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari. Cabinet positions have yet to be announced.
Experts view this broad alliance as fragile, given the overlapping economic and security crises facing the nation of over 240 million people. Monitors have also cautioned that the PML-N coalition may face a legitimacy crisis, with some of the public skeptical about the accuracy of the vote counting. Despite PTI-aligned candidates exceeding expectations, Imran Khan maintains that the election was rigged to prevent his party from returning to power.
During the election day, mobile internet signal was cut nationwide, citing security reasons, and the release of results was delayed, further fueling allegations of rigging.
