POLL RIVALS GEAR UP FOR PROTESTS

PPP, PML-N REJECT RESULTS BUT WILLING TO JOIN PARLIAMENT

islamabad — More than a dozen parties calling themselves the All Parties Conference (APC) promised to protest over the results, alleging that the elections were rigged.

Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf party (PTI) won over 100 seats in Wednesday’s ballot, but is still short of the 137 needed for a simple majority in a surprisingly strong showing that helped fuel suspicion of rigging.

However, the APC remained divided with some parties pledging to boycott joining the National Assembly and others calling for a new vote. The PML-N announced its support for the group but stopped short of saying it would boycott the new parliament.

And the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which was notably absent from the APC, said in a separate announcement that it rejected the results, but vowed to try to convince the other parties to participate in the parliamentary process.

Retired general and analyst Talat Masood said the APC may succeed in sparking pockets of unrest but did not see the movement upsetting stability at the national level.

“Opposition parties are divided and they are not genuinely in a mood to form any major opposition. I don’t think they have this stamina and the support of the people for going for a big movement,” said Masood.

Addressing a press conference, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari rejected the election process and claimed the general election was not free and fair.

Bilawal also demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner over failure to conduct transparent polls.

He said the Election Commission is responsible for carrying out transparent polls and that the electoral body failed in its task.

“We don’t accept the results of the elections,” he said.

The PPP leader added that the party will take the matter to parliament. “PPP will sit in opposition at the centre,” he added.

The protests announcement late on Friday came as the United States, the European Union and other observers aired reservations over widespread claims that the powerful military had tried to fix the playing field in Khan’s favour.

Khan’s victory represents an end to decades of rotating leadership between the PML-N and the PPP that was punctuated by periods of military rule.

The vote was meant to be a rare democratic transition in the country, which has been ruled by the powerful army for roughly half its history. .