Anger in Pakistan parliament over ‘rigged’ vote for new premier

ANGRY protests erupted in Pakistan’s parliament yesterday as its newly-elected prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was heckled with shouts of “vote thief” and “shame” by allies of Imran Khan, the imprisoned opposition leader.

Legislators declared Sharif, 72, the country’s new head of government this weekend, more than three weeks after an election marred by delayed results, allegations of vote-rigging and the imprisonment of Khan, his main rival.

Sharif presides over a shaky alliance while Khan’s party has vowed to continue protesting the alleged vote-rigging. Sharif secured 201 votes in the lower house of parliament, more than the 169 needed to win. He beat Omar Ayub of the Sunni Ittehad Council party, the candidate backed by jailed former prime minister Khan.

Sharif had himself spent time in prison in 2020-21 on allegations of money laundering, of which he was later acquitted.

In his acceptance speech, Sharif said: “We were subjected to political victimisation in the past but never took any revenge.” Without naming Khan, he said the previous ruler had imprisoned many political rivals, including himself.

But as Sharif gave his speech, Khan’s allies held up portraits of the ousted leader and former cricket star, chanting for his release and shouting slogans alleging that Sharif had come to power through vote-rigging. Sharif denounced their behaviour and said they were causing chaos in parliament. He said they should present any evidence of vote-rigging to authorities.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf party insists it should have won a majority but that its victory “was stolen during the vote count”, a charge the Election Commission denies.

According to the official results, candidates affiliated with Khan’s party – who were forced to run as independents – secured the most seats in parliament: 102, short of the 169 needed for a majority. Khan was barred from standing.

Following days of negotiations, Sharif ’s party formed an alliance with their long-time rivals, the Pakistan People’s Party, which won 54 seats, and other smaller factions. That allowed Sharif to get enough support to get elected.