Imran Khan’s Allies Accuse Authorities of Rigging Vote Count in Pakistani Election Controversy
In a stunning turn of events, Imran Khan’s allies have accused Pakistani authorities of rigging the vote count in Thursday’s election, claiming that they were being blocked from attaining power despite their electoral success. While candidates loyal to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the most seats, they fell short of a majority. They allege that they actually won even more seats, but a military-backed campaign of arrests and harassment aimed at crushing the party before the polls prevented them from doing so.
As of Saturday afternoon, independent candidates, who are predominantly PTI leaders barred from running under the party symbol, had secured 100 out of the 265 seats being contested, according to Pakistan’s Election Commission. This put them comfortably ahead of their main rivals, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led by veteran leader Nawaz Sharif with 71 seats, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the late Benazir Bhutto, with 54 seats. The PML-N and PPP, which are establishment parties that had long ruled Pakistan before the rise of the PTI, have initiated negotiations to form a ruling coalition.
However, PTI leader Raoof Hasan claimed that “dozens of seats have been tampered with” and expressed disappointment over the reversal of results overnight, which decreased their lead. The party intends to challenge the results in court and has called on supporters to protest peacefully outside electoral offices in the constituencies where results have not been announced yet.
The election itself was marred by delays, a mobile network blackout, and alleged irregularities during the vote count. The European Union warned of “allegations of severe interference in the electoral process,” while the United States expressed concern about such allegations but stated that they would work with the next Pakistani government regardless of the political party in power.
The PTI has accused election officials of manipulating the results to reduce their seat share. In a message from Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August and was ineligible to run in the contest, he claimed that his party had won 170 seats. “We have won the 2024 election with a two-thirds majority,” the message, which was converted into an AI-generated clone of Khan’s voice, stated. “Everyone has seen the strength of your vote. Now you must demonstrate the ability to safeguard your vote.”
With no party winning an outright majority, the stalemate poses a risk of acrimony and dysfunction in the new parliament at a time when Pakistan is grappling with an economic crisis. The PML-N and PPP, who had previously served in a short-lived coalition after Khan’s ousting as prime minister in 2022, are seeking to beat the PTI to power. Political scientist Hasan Askari Rizvi expects these two parties to have an edge in forming the new government, but he anticipates that the PTI will agitate both inside and outside the parliament. Some PTI members have expressed willingness to form a coalition with smaller parties, although analysts caution that preventing defections among technically independent candidates will be challenging.
Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah, who monitored the election, reported attempts by authorities to block her and others from witnessing the ballot counting in the three constituencies she visited. She believes that something happened in the middle of the night that they didn’t want observers to witness. Analysts had initially predicted little chance of success for the PTI. After losing power in a no-confidence vote in 2022, Khan’s falling out with the army, whose support is crucial to ruling Pakistan, led to the arrests of thousands of PTI leaders and supporters in the lead-up to the polls.
Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, defended the election as “free and unhindered” on Saturday. He called for political maturity, unity, and a move away from the politics of anarchy and polarization. However, for the millions of PTI-supporting Pakistanis who firmly believe that their party emerged victorious, a return to the status quo under the country’s political dynasties would be seen as a grave violation of popular will. Many are yearning for a new leader and a departure from the ruling parties that have dominated Pakistan for over three decades.
In conclusion, the Pakistani election has been marred by controversy and allegations of vote rigging. Imran Khan’s allies accuse authorities of manipulating the vote count to prevent them from attaining power, despite their electoral success. The PTI has secured the most seats but fell short of a majority. The PML-N and PPP are engaging in negotiations to form a ruling coalition. The election was plagued by delays, a mobile network blackout, and alleged irregularities during the vote count. The PTI intends to challenge the results in court and has called on supporters to protest peacefully
