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Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) clashed with police in multiple cities across the country on Saturday, protesting against alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections. In Lahore, PTI supporters gathered outside the Lahore Press Club and the party’s Jail Road office to register their protest. The protesters chanted slogans, demanding the restoration of their “stolen mandate”. In Karachi, hundreds of PTI workers and supporters gathered outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s Sindh office in the city’s Saddar area.
The protesters chanted slogans against the alleged rigging and demanded the judiciary and state institutions to intervene and fix the “flaws” in the results. The charged crowd, including women and children, carried party flags and danced to the tunes of party songs. Meanwhile, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced that party-backed independent candidates who emerged victorious in the Centre, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the 2024 general elections would join right-wing party Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) as part of their parliamentary strategy.
The move is aimed at protecting the party’s reserved seats and providing cover to its members. The PTI has claimed to have won 180 National Assembly seats, and the alliance with the SIC is expected to increase the PTI’s strength in the National Assembly. The policy will be decided by Imran Khan and the PTI, said SIC’s Hafiz Hamid Raza. The PTI has been demanding that party-supported candidates should be declared “returned candidates” after allegations of rigging in the elections.