Islamabad: Opposition parties held a protest demonstration outside the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad on Wednesday against alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.
The members of the opposition parties have strongly rejected the election result and demanded immediate removal of Chief Election Commission (CEC).
According to detail, Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFE), an amalgam of 11 political parties formed against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), staged protest.
Leaders of opposition parties including Ahsan Iqbal, Pervez Rasheed, Zahid Hamid, Afrasyab Khattak, Zahid Khan, Khawaja Asif, Mushahidullah Khan, Rashid Mehmood Somro, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, Khursheed Shah, Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Chaudhry Tanveer, Nehal Hashmi, Mushahid Hussain, Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, Usman Kakar, Zahid Khan, Mehmood Achakzai. Qamar Zaman Kira, Bushra Gohar and others participated in the protest. The PML-N chairman Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif could not fly to Islamabad from Lahore due to bad weather. Ameer JI Siraj ul Haq did not attended the demonstration.
The decision to hold the protest was made by the newly formed 11-party grand opposition alliance, named ‘Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Elections’, at a multi-party conference held in
Islamabad. The protesters marched from Parliament House to ECP office and are demonstrating against the alleged poll rigging. Intense slogans were being raised against the commission.
Strict security measures were also in place as heavy contingent of police and Frontier Corps (FC) officials were deployed around ECP. Meanwhile, the Islamabad police have devised a security plan in view of the protest, under which only members of the Parliament were to be allowed to walk up to the ECP office. Workers of political parties would not be allowed to enter into the Red Zone under the security plan.
Talking to newsmen on the occasion, senior leader of PML(N) Raja Zafarul Haq and former Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani said they have gathered to convey a message that the elections were not free, fair and transparent.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and president of the MMA, who arrived after the protest had been going on for a few hours, said: “The only reason why all political parties have joined hands today is because the ECP failed to conduct free and fair elections.”
PPP’s Sherry Rehman, Khursheed Shah and Farhatullah Babar, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal were among the leaders who took part in the protest. Participants chanted slogans about their respective political parties as well as the alleged rigging.
The opposition leaders have also decided to register a strong protest inside and outside parliament during the first sitting of the National Assembly, which according to Caretaker Information Minister Barrister Ali Zafar on Wednesday would be called between August 12-14.
Addressing the crowd, Leader of the Opposition in Senate Sherry Rehman reiterated the PPP’s demand of resignations from senior ECP officials. She said that it was necessary to remain peaceful and demanded resignation from the ECP officials. She said, “We will go to the Parliament and unite political parties .”
PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq claimed the election results did not reflect the voters’ choice. He said, “We want to tell the world that the public rejects these elections. We are united on this matter,” he said, adding that the ECP was not allowed to fulfill its duty.
PML-N leader Mushahid Hussain Syed said that his party was in contact with MMA, Awami National Party (ANP) and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP). He told, “We have also spoken to Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Hasil Bizenjo and other parties.” Syed further said that they would decide as to how long the protest wound last, upon reaching outside the ECP office.
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