Pakistan swears in new parliament amid chaotic scenes as Imran Khan's allies protest vote count
- 29 Feb 2024
Pakistan's National Assembly (NA) swore in newly elected members on Thursday in a chaotic scene, as allies of jailed former premier Imran Khan protested what they claim was a rigged election.
Lawmakers from Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party repeatedly chanted "Vote-thief!” as Shahbaz Sharif, who's expected to form the government, entered the lower house of parliament with his brother Nawaz Sharif. Both men are former premiers.
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party backed by Imran Khan alleges that the Feb.8 national election was rigged against them and has called for an audit of the polls. No single party won a majority.
Candidates backed by Imran won the most seats but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have agreed to an alliance to form a coalition government.
Outgoing National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf administered the oath to incoming legislators at noon.
The house echoed with chants of "Long Live Sharif!” when the brothers signed the register after taking their oaths of office. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the young chairman of PPP and a key Sharif ally, was met with similar chants.
"Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan," SIC members chanted as legislators, including the prime minister in waiting Shahbaz Sharif, signed the membership register of the National Assembly.
One SIC member held up a poster reading "Release Imran Khan" as he went up to the speaker's dais to sign.
SIC's Omar Ayub, Khan's candidate to be prime minister, told journalists the party would seek the release of the former cricket hero who was has been convicted in a string of cases and faces over a decade in jail.
The election for the prime minister will be held on Mar. 4, local broadcaster Geo News reported.
The new government will face challenges including a surge in militant attacks and shortages of energy; as well as an ailing economy that will force Pakistan to seek another bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Lawmakers from PTI told reporters that they will continue their campaign against the rigging in the elections in and outside the parliament.
"Yes, the election has been rigged,” said Gohar Ali Khan, the current head of PTI.
PTI has called for nationwide rallies on Saturday. The party claims it results were changed in dozens of constituencies to prevent it from winning a majority, a charge the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denies.
After the Feb.8 elections, observers from the Commonwealth praised election officials for holding the vote despite multiple militant attacks, but the US State Department said that the vote was held under restrictions of freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
The European Union also criticised the inability of some political actors to contest the elections. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has fired back at such criticism, saying the vote was held in a free, fair and transparent manner.
None of the foreign observers described widespread vote-stealing.
Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former president Asif Ali Zardari, emerged from the vote as the largest presence in the 336-seat National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament.
Under a power-sharing formula, Sharif's party will support Zardari in next month's presidential elections. Outgoing President Arif Alvi is an ally of Imran Khan and was a senior member of PTI before becoming president.
Imran is currently serving prison terms in multiple cases and has been barred from seeking or holding office. He has been convicted on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets and violating marriage laws in three separate verdicts and sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 10, 14 and 7 years. Imran is appealing all the convictions. He still faces some 170 legal cases on charges ranging from corruption to inciting violence and terrorism.