Newly Elected Pakistan Assembly Convenes Amid Protests Supporting Imran Khan
Published on: March 1, 2024.
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Pakistan’s newly elected lower house of parliament convened for the first time on Thursday amidst protests from supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), backed by Khan, alleges that the February 8 national election was rigged against them and has called for an audit of the polls. Despite no single party winning a majority, candidates supported by Khan secured the most seats. However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have agreed to form an alliance and create a coalition government.
Amidst the protests, legislators, including the prime minister in waiting Shehbaz Sharif, signed the membership register of the National Assembly. SIC members chanted “Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan” as they demonstrated their support. One SIC member even held up a poster calling for the release of Imran Khan, who is facing over a decade in jail after being convicted in a series of cases. The election for the prime minister is scheduled to take place on March 4.
The session took place under tight security following incidents in the inaugural session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly, where Khan’s supporters were pelted with pens and slippers. The National Assembly’s media wing announced that visitor passes for the upper galleries had been cancelled due to security reasons.
However, not all members of the 336-member house were able to take the oath, as the allocation of 70 reserved seats for women and minorities is still pending adjudication by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The ECP will determine the allocation of reserved seats to the SIC, which did not win any seats in the polls but was later joined by Khan’s successful supporters. Although the ECP completed hearings on the matter, it has yet to deliver a ruling.
The ECP decision will not impact Sharif’s alliance’s ability to form a government, but additional seats will be crucial in ensuring that the minority government can pass critical legislation and counter the opposition from the SIC.
Source: [Zawya](https://www.zawya.com)
