Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub has been notified as the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the National Assembly, declared Omar Ayub as the opposition letter after completing the due process.
Ayub met the speaker with Gohar Ali Khan and Malik Amir Dogar, also opposition members.
Ayub’s name was proposed by the majority of the opposition. The PTI-Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) alliance had nominated him on March 10 as the leader of the opposition.
Leader of the opposition enjoys the status of a federal minister. He gets a separate office where opposition parties hold meetings. Moroever, the Public Accounts Committee is usually headed by leader of the opposition, as well.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday postponed Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after opposition members filed a plea for postponement because of an issue with the provincial government over oath-taking of MPAs on reserved seats.
Interestingly, polling is underway in the National Assembly, Punjab and Sindh assemblies.
KP speaker Babar Saleem Swati did not comply with the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) recent order to administer the oath to the legislators-elect and filed a review petition in court on the eve of polling.
An official from the ECP pointed out that elections were postponed in KPK because of a delay in oath-taking ceremonies of MPAs-elect, as per the PHC order.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will not take part in Senate polls in Sindh on April 2, citing alleged widespread rigging.
“Senate elections are being won through rigging,” PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh said while addressing a press conference in Karachi on Sunday.
He said that the people who won elections according to Form 45 are not members of the Sindh Assembly. Pointing out that six candidates supported by PTI were participating in the Senate elections in Sindh, he said they have decided to boycott the upcoming polls.
“The incumbent government is going to be buried in a mass grave. We won elections on 180 seats in the general elections, but most of them were taken away,” he alleged.
On Wednesday, 14 candidates decided to withdraw their nomination papers for the Senate elections in the province. Following this, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is expected to secure one of the two Senate seats reserved for women without facing any competition.
Indian media has reported that Indian National Congress party is thinking about pitting famous tennis player Sania Mirza against All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi from Hyderabad in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The proposal came from former Indian cricket captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin.
During a meeting held on Wednesday, the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC) discussed candidates for various states including Goa, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Daman and Diu. It is believed that Sania Mirza’s name was also discussed in this meeting.
Experts suggest that Congress wants to use Sania Mirza’s popularity and fame to regain support in Hyderabad’s elections. The last time Congress won in Hyderabad was in 1980 with K S Narayan as the MP.
Mohammed Azharuddin proposed Sania Mirza’s name for candidature, as there’s a close family connection between the two. Mohammed Asaddudin, the cricketer’s son, married Sania Mirza’s sister, Anam Mirza, in 2019.
Azharuddin competed in the recent Telangana legislative assembly elections but lost to Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) Maganti Gopinath from the Jubilee Hills constituency by more than 16,000 votes.
For this Lok Sabha election, BJP has chosen Madhavi Latha as its candidate, and BRS has put forward Gaddam Srinivas Yadav. The elections for the 543 parliamentary constituencies will happen in seven phases, starting on April 19 and ending on June 1.
Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said that his party had decided to boycott by-elections and will be holding protests in different cities from April 25.
“Just like in 2018 elections, the mandate of people has been stolen in elections of 2024. We decided that our party would not accept the results of recent elections because this parliament is more of a representative of the establishment rather than the people,” said the chief of JUI-F.
By now, major political parties like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, JUI-F, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have rejected the results of February 8 elections, making the general elections controversial.
“This is our narrative and we have decided to move forward with it. We will start this movement named ‘Awami Assembly’ from April 25 from Balochistan’s Pishin,” said the JUI-F leader. The second ‘Awami Aseembly’ will begin from Karachi on May 2 and the third phase would be in Peshawar on May 9.
He also said that his party is in contact with other political parties, “so that a united opinion of people comes forward.” He criticized the Elections Commission of Pakistan for neglecting its legal obligations and accused the security agencies of overstepping their boundaries.
The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has reported that around 60.6 million Pakistanis voted in the country’s 12th general elections, held on February 8. This number was higher than 2018 elections, in which least 54.8 million citizens participated. The number this increased by 5.8 million voters, according to FAFEN post-election analysis report.
The election watchdog reported that fewer people voted in the recent general polls compared to the total number of registered voters. In 2018, 52.1 percent of registered voters participated in the polls whereas this year, only 47.6 percent turned out to vote.
The decrease in turnout, however, can be largely attributed to the increase in registered voters from 106 million in 2018 to 128.6 million in 2024. A considerable rise of 22.6 million registered voters between the 2018 and 2024 elections was highlighted in the report.
The report suggested that the turnout might have been affected by several factors, including severe winter in some areas, concerns about violence and terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, and uncertainty regarding how the elections would be conducted.
The analysis report on voter turnout reveals that KP had the lowest turnout. The report also notes that voter turnout varies across National Assembly (NA) constituencies, with Islamabad Capital Territory recording the highest turnout.
In a recent press conference, interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar strongly defended the delay in announcing election results, citing security concerns as the primary reason.
He was asked during the press conference by a journalist, “Probably this is your last press conference, on a lighter note: who told you how long you’ll be Caretaker Prime Minister?”
To this PM Kakar said, “I am disappointed after giving you a chance. Do I have cancer? As this is my last press conference according to you.”
While discussing the disruption in mobile services, Kakar emphasized, it was a necessary measure to ensure the safety of voters and prevent terrorist attacks.
“We could afford delay, but terrorist attacks, we could not […] delay does not mean rigging,” Kakar, whose government was appointed to oversee the country through elections until an elected set-up takes charge, said during a post-election press conference.
Kakar’s remarks came amidst mounting criticism from various political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), who protested the delay in election results, labeling it as potential rigging.
More than three days have passed since polling day and the complete election results are still pending, with one seat yet to be decided.
The prime minister informed journalists that in 2018, the entire result-gathering process took 66 hours; however, in 2024, it was completed in 36 hours. The official Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) deadline is around nine hours.
The premier compared Pakistan’s election process to that of other countries, citing instances of delayed results in Sweden and Indonesia, suggesting that such delays are not uncommon in large-scale elections.
In response to criticism from foreign governments, Kakar asserted that Pakistan would conduct its investigation if necessary, rather than succumbing to external pressures.
“These friendly countries, unfortunately, frame their initial assessment on the fabricated and fractured information available on social media and the digital space,” he said.
“A responsible government should take time and then have a position; that would have been better. If we have to investigate, we will not do it on the demand of the United States, United Kingdom, or the EU,” he further added.
Kakar noted that Pakistan has its law and will deal with it accordingly. “We did not ask a judicial inquiry on Capitol Hill riots. It is not for us to demand it and it is not for them. For me, the demand of a PTI individual than the US, UK, and EU combined.”
Acknowledging the possibility of irregularities, Kakar assured that appropriate forums were available for addressing complaints.
To a question, PM Kakar said that the upcoming elected parliament would decide about the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections. “There should be an open discussion on EVMS.”
Two days back, expressing his annoyance over the delayed election results, President Dr Arif Alvi had said that the country would have been spared the ongoing crisis if the EVMs had been used during the February 8 general elections.
Remember ‘our’ long struggle for Electronic Voting Machines. EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been…
It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP’s new Election Management System (EMS) fell flat despite the commission’s tall claims. Taking to his X handle, the president had said: “Had EVMs been there today, my dear beloved Pakistan would have been spared this crisis.”
Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) has secured the required majority in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to form its government for the third consecutive time in the province with the party’s provincial president, Ali Amin Gandapur, likely to become the chief minister.
The possibility of Gandapur becoming the Premier of the province has triggered severe backlash on social media.
On November 8, 2017, then PTI MNA Dawar Khan Kundi, wrote a letter to then-chairman PTI Imran Khan about an incident that took place in Dera Ismail Khan, the constituency of Ali Amin Gandapur.
A young orphan girl was stripped and then paraded naked in a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa village after her brother allegedly held a pre-marital affair with somebody. During the incident, nobody helped or sheltered the girl.
As per Dawar, the logistics and physical support to the criminals who stripped the young girl were all provided by PTI Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. In a letter written to PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Kundi wrote, “I visited the family a week before and they asked, in fact, requested, me to make sure that Ali Amin Gandapur, Revenue minister K-P, may be forced and asked to withdraw his support from the criminals,”
The letter further stated, “The notorious activities of Ali Amin Gandapur are a source of providing a bad name to the party as a whole,” Dawar wrote. “You must ask CM K-P Parvez Khattak to remove Gandapur from his ministerial portfolio and ask forgiveness from the bereaved family.”
Dawar Khan Kundi concluded his letter to Imran Khan by saying, “It is the time that PTI should stand with that orphan girl and provide justice to her as soon as possible.” However Ali Amin Gandapur has vowed he had nothing to do with the incident, saying that if charges of his involvement are proved, he was ready to be hanged till death.
Amid this, people are not happy with Ali Amin Gandapur being Chief Minister.
X (former Twitter) user @faraz_lhr wrote, “In 2017, Gundapur facilitated suspects involved in stripping a girl naked. Later a jirga forced the victim family to reconcile. Last month, the 5 suspects were shot dead.”
In 2017, Gundapur facilitated suspects involved in stripping a girl naked. Later a jirga forced the victim family to reconcile. Last month, the 5 suspects were shot dead https://t.co/qeWlwIrBF3
User Crucifiedrantsuser wrote, “If Ali Amin Gandapur can be CM KP than why not PMLN in Center. If it’s all about morals Then where are the morals. How pti will defend Ali Amin n we couldn’t defend pmln?What media sells isn’t right. For me media has no credibility after this. How they projected things is absurd.”
If Ali Amin Gandapur can be CM KP than why not PMLN in Center. If it’s all about morals Then where are the morals. How pti will defend Ali Amin n we couldn’t defend pmln?What media sells isn’t right. For me media has no credibility after this. How they projected things is absurd
User @AmmarRashidT user wrote, “Can’t think of a better way to demonstrate you’re the non-dynastic non-traditional party that can deliver competent governance than by appointing a thuggish dynast with a disturbingly violent past to the most important position in the province you govern.”
Can’t think of a better way to demonstrate you’re the non-dynastic non-traditional party that can deliver competent governance than by appointing a thuggish dynast with a disturbingly violent past to the most important position in the province you govern. https://t.co/YOvr2BftAe
User @vanillasky458 wrote, “Haven’t heard anything on this from a PTI official, but Gandapur should not be CM. PTI did not get go through this fight only to make mistakes we’ve called out other parties for. Hope Jhagra wins his seat, no better choice than him.”
Haven’t heard anything on this from a PTI official, but Gandapur should not be CM. PTI did not get go through this fight only to make mistakes we’ve called out other parties for. Hope Jhagra wins his seat, no better choice than him. https://t.co/b09CyTRLPf
Pakistanis turning out early for Thursday’s election said they believe their votes count, despite allegations of rigging in the nation’s most fractious poll in recent history.
“I believe in democracy and I think my vote matters,” said 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq, among the first to vote in the capital Islamabad.
“I cast my vote as it’s my duty,” she told AFP inside a polling station. “I wish for a deserving party to come to power.”
Polls opened at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) for 128 million eligible voters, with the first participants trickling into the Noorpur Shahan girl’s school and inking their fingers to stamp papers in gender-segregated booths.
Early voters were outnumbered by around a dozen armed security personnel staffing the station, a day after twin blasts claimed by the Islamic State killed 28 outside candidate offices in the nation’s southwest.
“I want a government that can make Pakistan safe for girls,” said Shafiq.
Analysts predict a low turnout after a muted campaign overshadowed by the jailing of ex-prime minister Imran Khan and the hobbling of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by the military establishment.
“Is this the way an election should be conducted?” asked 40-year-old Imran Khan, a driver who shares his name with the jailed opposition leader.
“Everyone has the right to vote according to their own will,” he said. “Today is not the day to stay at home. Those who choose to sit at home today will do injustice to themselves.”
Monitors say the treatment of PTI amounts to “pre-poll rigging”, and the party has voiced fears that voters would face interference at polling stations.
Ballots were posted into white and green ballot boxes, Pakistan’s national colours, and crowds steadily grew in the first hour after polls opened.
“I arrived 20 minutes early to cast my vote because I believe my vote matters,” said 39-year-old Syed Tassawar. “My only fear is whether my vote will be counted for the same party I cast it for.”
“At the same time, for the poor it does not matter who is ruling — we need a government that can control inflation, that’s the only thing that matters to people like us,” added the construction worker.
Whoever wins Thursday’s election will inherit a divided country with an economy in tatters — with galloping inflation, a rupee in freefall and a balance of payments crisis.
“We have pretty high expectations from the new government to improve our conditions, said 21-year-old first-time voter Zainab Asghar.
The federal Ministry of Interior has confirmed on Thursday morning that internet services on mobile data across the country have been suspended after a dramatic surge of terror attacks just a day before the country goes to polls.
“Recent surge in terrorist activities resulting in precious lives have stirred security environment in the country. In the light of deteriorating security situation and to mitigate potential security threats, need has risen to take by measures to safeguard against it. Therefore, it has been decided to temporarily suspend the mobile services across the country,” a statement issued by the ministry said.
However, WiFi services have not been suspended and remain operational.
The news has been met by dismay on social media as users say it hinders the voting process and blocks candidates from communicating with their polling staff.
On Wednesday, two attacks just a short while apart from each other, killed 27 people in Balochistan while more than 50 people were injured. A grenade attack in Karachi got foiled when the ammo detonated in the hands of the motorcyclist carrying it, while JUI-F’s Hafiz Hamdullah was attacked by gunfire in an assassination attempt that failed.
