Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi: Political parties including PTI, JI, JUI-F on Sunday held countrywide demonstrations against over the alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections.
The PTI workers staged protests in various cities across the country against alleged rigging in general elections.
In Rawalpindi, the PTI workers protested outside the district election commissioner's office in Sadiqabad.
Police arrestedthe workers and sealed routes leading up to the entrance of the district election commission’s office. The police personnel reportedly used tear gas and charged batons to disperse the protesters.
PTI workers staged a protest outside Sukkur Press Club. The protest was led by party's independent candidates from NA-200 and PS-24, Gohar Khoso and Safia Baloch.
In Lahore, PTI leader Hammad Azhar has urged party supporters to remain calm and peaceful as the authorities wanted scenes of clashes and violence.
“We are a peaceful party committed to the rule of law & democratic process. Back off if they provoke you. Do not clash with them. Capture the footage,” he said in a post on X.
Moreover, another demonstration by PTI workers took place outside the ECP Sindh office, with heavy police force in attendance.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Balochistan Emir Abdul Haq Hashmi slammed the ECP over the alleged massive rigging.
On Sunday, the ECP stopped the Returning Officer (RO) from issuing the final notification for election results of NA-47 and NA-48 Islamabad after PTI-backed candidates Shoaib Shaheen and Ali Bukhari challenged them.
The ECP also halted final results for PK-79 and PK-82, following challenges from Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Bangash - also PTI-backed candidates.
Earlier, PTI leader Barrister Gohar stressed on peaceful nationwide protests against returning officers (ROs) on Sunday. He emphasised that the nation had complete trust in founding chariman Imran Khan’s vision.
Despite the challenges faced on February 8, the public decisively demonstrated a clear and transparent mandate in favour of the PTI, he said. Accusing the ROs of “attempting to usurp their mandate once again”, Gohar condemned these “unacceptable attempts to undermine democracy through tampering with election results”.
He warned that any such effort would be detrimental to the country and unacceptable to the people, “who will not tolerate any violation of their voting rights.”