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Imran Khan’s party to protest until his release, demands 'return of stolen mandate'

Khan has alleged that the 2024 election was the ‘mother of all rigging’

A day ahead of the election of the new prime minister of Pakistan, jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party on Saturday said it will continue with its protests “in courts, in parliament and on the streets” until his release and the party’s “stolen mandate” is restored.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) held rallies, silent protests and demonstrations across the country on Saturday. In Lahore, the party faced resistance and there was a police crackdown with baton-charge and arrests of some leaders.

The protest rallies were a result of a direct appeal by 71-year-old Khan, lodged in the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi after conviction in multiple cases. While Khan and other prominent leaders were barred from contesting the February 8 elections and his party symbol, the iconic ‘cricket bat’ was snatched away, independent candidates backed by PTI won more than 90 seats, making them the largest group.

However, in a post-poll alliance, purportedly to keep Khan away from power, his nearest two rival parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have come together to form a government at the Centre.

Khan has already alleged that the 2024 election was the ‘Mother of All Rigging’. Late on Friday night, a post from Khan’s official X handle appealed to his supporters to hit the roads on Saturday.

Loosely translated from Urdu, the post on X said: “Pakistanis, you should never accept this illegitimate government. The entire nation, including the provincial and national assembly members, local organisations should demonstrate that they are a living nation by peacefully protesting against the worst violation of their right to vote” and mentioned time of 11 am on Saturday.

Party’s official X handle kept posting photos and videos – along with a hashtag #MandateThieves from similar protest rallies from across the country saying “on Imran Khan’s call, all of Pakistan, from Khyber to Karachi, came out in huge numbers, to protest against the unprecedented electoral fraud in General Elections 2024, perpetrated by the illegitimate, authoritarian, fascist regime, that stole PTI’s two-thirds majority mandate.”

Addressing a rally, PTI’s Sher Afzal Marwat urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the violation of Pakistanis’ fundamental rights under the judiciary’s watch.

Referring to the coalition government set to rule Pakistan, Marwat said, the incumbent government’s reality was “stealing prisoner no: 804’s mandate.”

“Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Parvez Elahi, Bushra Bibi, Yasmin Rashid, Sanam Javed, and other PTI leaders have been unjustly jailed by the fascist regime imposed on us for the past two years,” Dawn.com said, quoting Marwat as addressing the protestors at the rally.

Marwat said Imran was innocent but imprisoned for seven months, adding that the PTI founder’s only sin was chanting ‘absolutely not’ and “striving for haqeeqi azaadi (real freedom).” “We will continue our struggle and protest in the courts, parliament, and on the streets until Imran is released [..] and the recovery of our mandate,” the PTI leader was quoted by the web portal as saying.

In Lahore, police resorted to baton-charging and arresting PTI leaders, including Mian Shehzad Farooq when they were protesting against the rigging in elections, The News International said.

As part of the alliance deal between PML-N and PPP, Shehbaz Sharif is set to be the next prime minister with outside support of PPP while Asif Ali Zardari is set to be the next president with the support of PML-N.

Election for the prime minister’s post will be held on Sunday while that for the president’s post is to be held on March 9.

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