Protests Erupt Across Pakistan Amidst Allegations of Rigging in General Elections

(CTN News) – Workers and supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) launched protests across the country on Sunday against alleged “rigging in the general election” on Feb 8.

As part of their protests against what they call rigging in the general elections in Peshawar, PTI workers blocked the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway.

From noon until Sunday night, PTI workers and supporters blocked vehicular traffic at the Motorway toll plaza.

For the third day, PTI workers have been protesting against alleged rigging in eight provincial seats and one national assembly seat.

At the time of filing, the sit-in was still going on.

In Punjab, PTI planned “peaceful” protests against “massive rigging” but stopped some days before scheduled time out of fears of a “false flag operation”.

There were protests in several cities across the province, including Lahore, where police arrested dozens of PTI supporters.

PTI leaders in Rahim Yar Khan say police raided the homes of seven PTI-backed independent candidates who won their seats on Feb 8 to coerce them into joining PML-N.

It’s been another day of protests in Sindh against alleged rigging, as Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) blocked roads in the province, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) held sit-ins all over Karachi, and the PTI protested outside the ECP Sindh headquarters.

JUI-F workers blocked the highway connecting Sindh and Balochistan, alleging the election results were manipulated to benefit the Pakistan Peoples Party.

JI staged sit-ins in Karachi at eight key intersections, demanding the ECP declare the fake results null and void. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, JI Karachi’s chief, addressing one of the sit-ins, vowed to keep fighting fascism and reject the fake mandate.

PTI workers rallied outside ECP Sindh’s headquarters to protest. PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman encouraged the workers to stay calm and peaceful in their fight for constitutional rights.

“I hope you stay peaceful and don’t get provoked because there’s a conspiracy to turn you against our law enforcement agencies and create a law and order situation,” he said.

There’s no way your mandate will go anywhere. We’ll go to court and fight a legal battle. We’ve prepared, and we’re confident we’ll get back every Karachi constituency.”