Daily Times

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking to declare the February 8 general elections null and void on Monday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, will head the bench which will include Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Mussarat Hilali. The petition has made the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the federal government as respondents in the case. A citizen, Ali Khan, filed a petition for the court to order fresh elections within 30 days. The plea seeks general elections under the supervision and oversight of the judiciary “to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability”. Additionally, the petition also seeks a stay order on the formation of the new government till the case is resolved.

In the country’s general elections held on February 8, PTI-supported independent candidates secured 92 seats, PML-N obtained 75, and PPP secured 54 seats. Various political parties and losing candidates have raised allegations of fraud in the polls.

A day earlier, the Sindh High Court (SHC) sent petitions against the results of 58 constituencies of Karachi and Hyderabad to the Election Commission. The SHC has sent the applications of Jamaat-e-Islami’s candidate Syed Abdul Rasheed from PS 106, PTI’s Raja Azhar candidate from PS 95 petition against Farooq Awan PTI’s independent candidate Riyaz Haider against form 47 from constituency NA 250 and Irfanullah Marwat of GDA petition against the success of Saeed Ghani to the Election Commission.

The SHC directed that the electoral watchdog hear the complaints of all the parties and take a decision before February 22 as per the law and should examine the records of the applicants in Form 45 or 47. The court has ordered that any irregularity if found, should be removed. The court disposed of the petitions. Widespread protests have been held in Balochistan, Sindh, and other parts of the country against alleged rigging in the 2024 general elections.

Political parties, including the National Party, PPP, JUI, BAP, BNP-Mengal, PkMAP, and PkNAP, staged protest demonstrations engulfing major thoroughfares and district returning offices, demanding recounts and challenging the declared outcomes in Balochistan. “Our protest will continue until justice is served,” Mir Kabeer Muhammad Shahi, the central leader of the NP, said while addressing a demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office in Quetta.

Four political parties, including the BNP-M, PkMAP, and the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), announced joint protest demonstrations against the alleged election rigging in the province. They also established a joint protest camp to mount pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan to reconsider its results about their constituencies.

“The ROs snatched our democratic right,” Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, the central leader of PkMAP, said. He said the ROs and the ECP were responsible for what he called “record rigging in the province”. Various political parties, including the Awami National Party, JUI and some candidates blocked the main highways linking Balochistan with Karachi, Sindh, Punjab and other parts of the country.

The PTI also levelled serious allegations, claiming that it was deprived of three National Assembly and nine provincial assembly seats. The political parties have also announced a joint shutter-down strike across Balochistan in this regard. In Sindh, the political parties also protested against alleged rigging. The PTI staged a demonstration outside the ECP headquarters, the JUI blocked road links in the province, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) staged sit-ins in various parts of Karachi.

The JUI leaders and workers barricaded the highway that connects Sindh and Balochistan, claiming that the results of the polls on Feb 8 were rigged to benefit the PPP. They warned that the protests would continue if a fair vote recount was not conducted. The JI organised sit-ins at eight significant junctions in Karachi, calling on the ECP to renounce the “fake results” of the general elections. Meanwhile, in Islamabad, the capital police enforced Section 144 in force in the city and and stated action will be taken against any illegal assembly of people.

Over a dozen petitions were filed in the high courts, by several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed candidates challenging the results of the elections in their respective constituencies, announced by the returning officers (ROs) concerned. Most of the election petitions were filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC), while two PTI-backed candidates moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the results, and at least three petitions were filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC).