Supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf distribute sweets to passersby to celebrates the Supreme Court decision in a case of reserved seats for women and minorities in the parliament, in Lahore, on July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will emerge as the largest party in Parliament with 109 seats after the Supreme Court on July 12 ruled that it is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities, according to a media report.

In a major legal victory for 71-year-old Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, a 13-member full bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa annulled the Peshawar High Court’s decision upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) move to deny its share in reserved seats in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

The bench also declared the decision of the top electoral body “null and void”, terming it “against the Constitution of Pakistan”.

The PTI will emerge as the largest party in the National Assembly as its seats will likely soar from 86 to 109 after it gains 23 reserved seats, Geo News reported.

The Opposition alliance in the National Assembly will also surge to a strength of 120, the report said.

Currently, the combined opposition, including the PTI, has 97 members.

Khan’s party has 86 members in the lower house, 84 of whom are on board with the Suni Ittehad Council (SIC) and two independents — party leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub Khan.

With the majority seats of the PTI in the lower house of the legislature, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will continue to occupy the simple majority with the strength of 209 members. The PML-N has a total of 108 members.

Major setback for the ruling coalition

The apex court’s ruling in the keenly awaited judgment is viewed as a major setback to Prime Minister Sharif’s ruling coalition, increasing pressure on it by changing the composition of the National Assembly and paving the way for the PTI’s return to Parliament.

“[The] withdrawal of election symbol cannot disqualify a political party from elections,” the court declared, referring to the election commission not allowing the PTI to use the cricket bat as its election symbol. “The PTI was and is a political party,” the bench ruled.

Khan, a cricketer-turned-politician, founded the PTI in 1996.

The dispute about the reserved seats was related to the rejection of a SIC plea by the ECP to award its share in the 70 reserved seats in the National Assembly and another 156 in the four provincial assemblies.

The PTI party could not contest the February 8 elections as the ECP rejected its intra-party elections and deprived it of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol for contesting the elections as a party.

Hence, it was not eligible to claim the seats reserved for women and minorities awarded to the winning parties based on proportional representation.

So its candidates, who had won independently but with the support of PTI, were asked by the party’s leadership to join the SIC to form a parliamentary party to claim reserved seats.

The joining of PTI lawmakers made the SIC prominent, which, otherwise, was a dormant entity.

The final ruling by the top court in the case may not change the current power structure, but changes in the overall number game in the assemblies may impact the law-making in the country.

Election workers register voters at a polling station in a school during a general election, in Islamabad, Pakistan February 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan on Saturday decided to deploy army troops to maintain peace during key by-elections that are to be held in the country on Sunday to fill the seats vacated by various candidates or where elections were postponed due to the death of candidates.

The general elections were held across the country on February 8 to elect representatives for the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. But polls were cancelled for one National Assembly, two Punjab Assembly and one seat of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly respectively.

Apart from those, candidates who had won more than one seat opted for a chosen seat after elections, leaving the Election Commission of Pakistan to organise by-election on 21 seats, including five National Assembly and 16 provincial assembly seats.

Elections will be held on two seats of the National Assembly each in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one seat in Sindh, whereas elections will be held on twelve seats of Punjab Assembly and two each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies.

In Punjab, NA-132 (Kasur) and NA-119 (Lahore) were vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while Shehbaz also gave up two of his provincial assembly seats in Lahore. He, however, retained his NA-123 seat in the National Assembly.

Due to the prevailing law and order situation, the ECP had asked the federal government to approve the deployment of Pakistan Army and Civil Armed Forces (CAF) troops to keep peace, which endorsed the move and announced that to use the armed forces’ units as a quick response force.

The Ministry of Interior in its notification issued on Friday stated that the CAF and Pakistan Army units would be used as second and third tiers of security and they would be available with immediate effect till April 22 in all 21 constituencies.

“The exact number of troops, date/period, area and mode of deployment would be worked out by the ECP in consultation with all concerned stakeholders based on ground requirement/assessment. The date of de-requisitioning of the said deployment will be decided subsequently after mutual consultation among all stakeholders,” the notification stated.

Separately, the Punjab government had also asked the federal government to suspend mobile internet services in the province’s 13 districts and tehsils on April 21 to maintain law and order.

The move comes despite severe criticism by media and political leaders of a similar step on February 8 when mobile services were suspended to keep peace.

Supporters of imprisoned Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on motorcycles chant slogans during a protest against the Pakistan Election Commission, in Lahore, Pakistan on March 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.S. has highlighted irregularities in the February 8 general elections in Pakistan and expressed the U.S. commitment to strengthening the cash-strapped country’s democratic institutions and cooperating to counter terrorist threats.

Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, the diplomat whose supposed warning to former Pakistan Ambassador to the U.S. Asad Majeed was the subject of a cipher (secret diplomatic message) sent by the envoy to Islamabad, will on Wednesday be a key witness before a Congressional panel that has called a hearing titled ‘Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship’.

The same diplomatic communication was later used by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan to allege a U.S. conspiracy to oust his government in 2022.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder is on trial for mishandling the same confidential document.

Also Read | Pakistan’s election commission forms high-level committee to probe poll rigging allegations

In his written testimony uploaded on Tuesday, Mr. Lu raised several issues concerning the two countries and what lies ahead for U.S. policy in Pakistan.

He mentioned that the State Department had issued a clear statement a day after the general elections in Pakistan last month, noting undue restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

The State Department condemned electoral violence and restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as attacks on media workers and restrictions on access to the internet and telecommunication services, he said.

It also expressed concern about allegations of interference in the electoral process and asked for claims of interference or fraud to be fully investigated, he said.

“We were particularly concerned about electoral abuses and violence that happened in the weeks leading up to the elections,” he stated.

“First, there were attacks against police, politicians, and political gatherings by terrorist groups. Second, many journalists, particularly female journalists, were harassed and abused by party supporters. And several political leaders were disadvantaged by the inability to register specific candidates and political parties,” he said.

Mr. Lu also said on the day of the election, an internationally respected local poll monitoring organisation said they were barred from observing vote tabulation in more than half of the constituencies across the country.

Also Read | Pakistan’s Foreign Office dismisses U.S. ‘directions’ on probing alleged election rigging

“And despite a high court instruction not to interrupt the internet service on election day, authorities shut down mobile data services, the principal means by which Pakistanis access social media and messaging applications,” he said.

However, the assistant secretary also identified positive elements in the Pakistani general elections and said: “Despite threats of violence, over 60 million Pakistanis voted, including over 21 million women. Voters elected 50% more women to parliament than they did in 2018. In addition to a record number of women candidates, there were record numbers of members of religious and ethnic minority groups and young people running for seats in parliament.”

Voters in Pakistan had a choice, he stated in the testimony.

“A range of political parties won seats in national and provincial assemblies. Three different political parties now lead Pakistan’s four provinces. More than 5,000 independent observers were in the field. Their organisation concluded that the conduct of the election was largely competitive and orderly while noting some irregularities in the compilation of results,” he said.

Declaring Pakistan an important partner, the senior official said the U.S. shares a commitment to strengthening the country’s democratic institutions, supporting the U.S.-Pakistan Green Alliance Framework, cooperating to counter terrorist threats from groups like Al-Qaeda and Daesh, and bolstering respect for human rights, including religious freedom.

Mr. Lu said Washington plays a critical role in promoting economic stability in Pakistan.

“We have been one of the most important investors in critical infrastructure over the 76 years of our partnership. For example, the U.S. Government is refurbishing the Mangla and Tarbela dams that provide electricity to tens of millions of Pakistanis.”

He said the U.S. support for Pakistan over the last many decades has been in the form of development grants, private sector investment and humanitarian assistance during periods of greatest need, including the recent catastrophic flooding.

“Unfortunately, Pakistan is facing mounting debt challenges after the past decade of elevated borrowing, including from the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” he said, warning that this year, nearly 70% of the federal government’s revenue is expected to go to payments to service this massive debt.

Pakistan needs economic reforms and private sector-led investments that will deliver economic growth for the Pakistani people and not dig their government deeper into debt, Donald Lu said in his testimony.

The allegations of vote rigging marred the February 8 elections in Pakistan.

Though more than 90 independent candidates backed by Mr. Khan’s PTI won the maximum number of seats in the National Assembly, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto struck a post-poll deal and formed a coalition government in the country.

Mr. Khan’s party says the new coalition government was formed by stealing its mandate.

Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Jailed ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party has submitted a resolution in the Senate calling for the release of the incarcerated leader, his wife Bushra, his close aide, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other leaders, saying “political vendetta” has destroyed the country’s economy and reputation.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Mr. Khan, 71, and senior party leader and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, 67, have been lodged at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in various cases.

Submitted by party Senator Falak Naz Chitrali, the resolution calls for the release of the PTI party leaders, alleging that they were convicted under “false cases”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“Political vendetta has destroyed the country’s economy and reputation,” the resolution read.

It also called for the release of PTI stalwart Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mr. Khan’s wife Ms. Bushra Bibi and other women leaders of the party, as well as journalists.

The party submitted a similar resolution in the National Assembly on March 5.

Also Read | Shehbaz Sharif takes oath as Pakistan’s Prime Minister for a second time

Last month, Mr. Khan and his wife, Ms. Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to seven years imprisonment in an “un-Islamic” marriage or Iddat case.

In January, the PTI founding chairman and his wife were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment each for corruption on charges of illegally selling state gifts.

Earlier, the former-cricketer-turned-politician was also sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court for leaking sensitive state secrets.

Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi were also handed down a jail term of 10 years in the cipher case.

The cipher case pertains to a piece of paper, purported to be a diplomatic cable — the cipher — that Mr. Khan had waved at a public rally on March 27, 2022, and naming the U.S., had claimed that it was ‘evidence’ of an “international conspiracy” to topple his government.

The Federal Investigation Agency filed the case against Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi on August 15 last year, which accused both of violating the secrecy laws while handling the cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in Washington in March 2022. Mr. Khan and Mr. Qureshi have also been barred from politics for five years.

Dozens of cases have been registered against Mr. Khan since his government was toppled through a no-trust vote in April 2022.

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sarfaraz Bugti.
| Photo Credit: X@PakSarfrazbugti

The Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Sarfaraz Bugti was elected unopposed as the new Chief Minister of the restive Balochistan province on March 2.

Mr. Bugti had stepped down as the caretaker federal Interior Minister in the interim government to contest the provincial assembly elections on a PPP ticket in the February 8 general elections.

The senior politician also enjoyed the support of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) when he submitted his nomi­­nation papers with Assembly Secretary Tahir Shah on March 1.

No other candidate filed any nomination paper for the Chief Minister’s post till the given deadline on March 1 following which Mr. Bugti was declared winner unopposed.

Also Read | Pakistan swears in new parliament amid chaotic scenes, as Imran Khan’s party protests vote count

Mr. Bugti faces a tough challenge as the new Chief Minister of a province frequently hit by terrorism and separatist violence and an ongoing crisis in the coastal port city of Gwadar and its adjoining areas which have been hit hard by heavy rainfall and flash floods.

After the February 8 general elections, PPP emerged as the largest party in Balochistan and has formed a coalition government with PML-N and Baloch Awami Party in the province.

Mr. Bugti also served as the Information Minister in Balochistan during the government led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party between 2018 and 2022.

The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) backed by Imran Khan’s party on Saturday named the Pashtun­khwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai as their Presidential candidate against Asif Ali Zardari, the joint nominee of the PML-N and the PPP.

Mr. Achakzai, 75, was nominated for the post against the Pakistan Peoples Party’s senior leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News reported.

Mr. Zardari, 68, is a joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties part of the coalition set to form a government in the Centre.

Mr. Achakzai, the chief of Pashtun­khwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), won the National Assembly seat from the NA-266 constituency in Balochistan’s Kila Abdullah-cum-Chaman.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, has urged his party’s lawmakers to vote for the veteran politician, The News International reported.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan has confirmed the nomination of Mr. Achakzai for the Presidential poll.

Also Read | Maryam Nawaz becomes first-ever woman Chief Minister of a province in Pakistan

It should be noted that a PTI delegation, led by party leader Asad Qaiser, met with Mr. Achakzai and Balochistan National Party (Mengal) chief Akhtar Mengal earlier this week to seek their support in raising the voice against “rigging” in the general elections held last month.

During the meeting, Mr. Achakzai extended his party’s support for every political party that works towards the Constitution’s supremacy and empowering the Parliament.

According to a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday, the Presidential election is set to take place on March 9.

Vehicles ride past the National Assembly building as the opening session of parliament commences, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a senior leader from the party headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was on March 1 elected as the Speaker of the newly-formed National Assembly.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a senior leader from the party headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was on March 1 elected as the Speaker of the newly-formed National Assembly.

PML-N’s Mr. Sadiq secured 199 votes out of a total of 291 votes cast, Dawn.com reported.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate beat his rival Amir Dogar, who got only 91 votes amid commotion caused by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members. Mr. Dogar was backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

After the counting of votes was complete, outgoing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that a total of 291 votes were cast, out of which one was “invalid” and the rest declared “valid,” the report said.

Mr. Khan and PTI have alleged massive rigging in the February 8 polls and accused PML-N and its alliance partners, including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of stealing his party’s mandate.

Given the party position in the Assembly, it was sure that the PML-N-backed candidate would win as the Nawaz Sharif-headed party had tied up with the PPP and other four smaller parties to keep Mr. Khan’s PTI out of power.

Independent candidates — a majority backed by Mr. Khan’s PTI — won 93 National Assembly seats. The PML-N won 75 seats, the PPP came third with 54 seats while the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) had won 17 seats.

Meanwhile, according to the schedule announced on Thursday by the National Assembly Secretariat, the election for the head of the government, i.e. the Prime Minister, would be held on Sunday. The PMN-L and PPP alliance has nominated former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as their nominee.

The election for the new President will take place on March 9. PPP leader and former Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari is expected to be re-elected to the post after a gap of nearly 11 years.

The results of the 2024 elections in Pakistan for the four provinces — Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan — match the National Assembly trend. Like the National Assembly, the political stability or instability in these four provinces post-elections is likely to be a repeat of 2022-23. The provincial elections are less likely to change the political situation in the provinces, despite nuances in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

Sindh

The election results for the Sindh provincial assembly have not altered the situation drastically. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was ruling the province and will continue to do so. Of the 130 general seats in Sindh, the PPP has won 84 seats; in 2018 and 2013, it had won 76 and 91 seats, respectively.

The big difference this time is related to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). In the 2018 elections, the PTI had the establishment’s backing and the MQM-P was emerging from the shadows of Altaf Hussain and MQM. The MQM-P could win only 16 seats then, but in 2024, it has won 28, mostly from Karachi. This should mark the return of the Mohajir vote bank, and also the consolidation of the party. The MQM-P’s gain is the PTI’s loss. In 2018, the PTI emerged as the second-largest party with 23 seats. In 2024, the situation has reversed: the independents backed by the PTI have won only 13 seats.

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it has been a PTI tsunami. Of the 115 general seats in the assembly, the independents (mostly backed by the PTI) have won 90. All the other parties could secure seats only in single digits. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or JUI-F, which emerged second, has won a mere seven seats. The PTI’s dominance of this province is absolute. Its performance was even better than its 2018 performance (65 seats).

Another major development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the decline of regional political parties. The Awami National Party (ANP), which once ruled the province, could only secure one seat for the provincial assembly and none for the national assembly. In the 2008 elections, the party had won 32 seats and had formed the provincial government (with the PPP).

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI will continue to call the shots. It has already announced Ali Amin Gandapur as its chief ministerial candidate. As in Sindh, there is clarity in this province.

Punjab

With the return of Nawaz Sharif, the jailing of Imran Khan, and the breakup of the PTI, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was widely expected to sweep the 2024 elections in Punjab. Of the 297 general seats for the Punjab assembly, the PML-N has won 137. On the other hand, the independents, including those backed by the PTI, have won 138. The PPP and PML-Q have won 10 and 8, respectively, while the Istehkam-e-Pakistan, the Tehreek -e-Labbaik Pakistan and Pakistan Muslim League-Z (PML-Z) have all won one each.

The question is: will the provincial government be stable? Even if the reserved seats are added to the PML-N, it will not get a simple majority in the 371-seat assembly, and will have to be dependent on the PPP, PML-Q, and independents. In 2023, there was continuous instability in the Punjab provincial assembly; there were multiple court interventions on who should be the chief minister. That year, Punjab saw three chief ministers from three political parties. In 2024, there is likely to be horse-trading. The process has already started with six independents willing to join the PML-N. Cases are likely to be filed in the courts from rigging to horse-trading, which are all likely to lead to instability.

Balochistan

Balochistan is the largest province area-wise, but has only 51 seats. As has been the case in previous elections, no single party has adequate seats to form the government. Of the 51 general seats for the Balochistan assembly, the PPP and JUI-F have secured 11 each, followed by PML-N (10). The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has secured only four seats. Independents, including those backed by the PTI, have won seven seats, followed by the National Party (3), the Balochistan National Party (1), the ANP (2), the Balochistan National Party (Awami) (1), the Haq Do Tehreek Balochistan (1), and the Jamaat-e-Islami (1).

As has been the case in other provinces, we see the role of national political parties winning more seats than the regional ones. The PPP, PML-N, and JUI-F have won more than half the seats for Balochistan assembly vis-à-vis the regional political parties. Balochistan will remain a fragmented polity, as it has been for two decades.

The elections to the provincial assemblies have not resulted in any significant transformation. While Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain stable, Punjab is likely to see instability. Balochistan will remain fragmented; given the lack of regional voices in the governance process, the alienation in Balochistan will continue. The big parties are likely to call the shots in the provinces, while the regional parties may find their space restricted.

Femy Francis, Rohini Reenum, Dhriti Mukherjee, Shamini Velayutham & D. Suba Chandran are a part of ‘Pakistan Reader’, an area studies initiative at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru

Also read: Pakistan in turmoil: On the Pakistan elections and results

Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha speaks at a press conference on February 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

In a volte-face, former senior bureaucrat Liaquat Ali Chattha, who alleged that 13 candidates from Rawalpindi were forcefully declared winners in Pakistan’s general elections, on February 22 withdrew his allegations and said that he was “extremely ashamed and embarrassed” over his claims.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and surrender myself before the authorities for any kind of legal action,” Mr. Chattha, former Rawalpindi Commissioner, was quoted as saying by the Geo News.

Reacting to the development, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party of trying to make the elections controversial.

“Shame on PTI, behind every propaganda it is PTI!! They tried to make the elections controversial! Tarnished the image of Pakistan!” the party said in a post on X.

On February 17, Mr. Chattha resigned from his office after “accepting responsibility” for manipulation of poll results. “I am taking responsibility for all this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved in this,” he had said.

His allegations came amidst jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s nationwide protests against alleged rigging and stealing of its mandate in the February 8 elections. Mr. Chattha’s allegations came in handy for the PTI to back up its claim that its candidates failed to win due to vote rigging.

Pakistan’s Election Commission had formed a high-level committee to probe the explosive allegations levelled by him.

The Election Commission of Pakistan strongly rejected the allegations against the chief election commissioner made by Mr. Chattha.

General elections in Pakistan will be held on February 11, the country’s poll body informed the Supreme Court on Thursday, putting an end to months-long uncertainty over the polls.

The Election Commission of Pakistan’s counsel, Sajeel Swati, said the process of drawing constituencies would be completed by January 29, paving the way for the polls.

He said this as the apex court resumed hearing on a set of petitions calling for holding elections within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Athar Minallah took up the pleas moved by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and others, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on August 9.