Almost two weeks after the election, after various dramas, when PML-N and PPP were going to form the coalition government, Imran Khan’s party approached the Supreme Court challenging the election results.
Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the results of the Pakistan National Assembly elections. PTI filed a petition in the country’s Supreme Court on Friday.
In the petition, PTI claimed that candidates supported by PTI won 180 seats in February 8 elections. But they were shown to have won 92 seats through manipulation. ‘Vote rigging’ was done to keep PTI leaders out of power.
Senior PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat said on Friday evening that the petition also challenged the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
Earlier, a retired Pakistani army officer named Ali Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking annulment of the February 16 election results. The petition requested the court to annul the previous elections and order fresh elections within 30 days under the direct supervision of the judiciary to ensure impartiality, transparency and accountability. The application also asked to stop the formation of the new government until a decision is taken on this matter. The court also fixed the date of hearing on that application on Wednesday. But the Supreme Court dismissed the petition as the petitioner was not present in the court that day. Along with that, Ali Khan was also fined 5 lakh rupees by the Supreme Court.
Consensus on government formation: Finally, the two political parties Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have reached a consensus on government formation. They have shared the nominations of the Prime Minister and the President. PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari can become the new president of Pakistan; Shahbaz Sharif will be the prime ministerial candidate.
The government formation process has officially started. Newly elected MPs took oath in the country’s Punjab on Friday. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari announced the agreement at a joint press conference in Islamabad. With this, it appears that the vacillation in the formation of the government has come to an end as no party got a single majority in the February 8 elections.
Incidentally, no party got a majority in the February 8 election. As a result, PML-N and PPP are moving towards forming a coalition government. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which came third with 54 seats, wants to form a coalition government with the second-placed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which won 75 seats, under certain conditions. If the PML-N and PPP alliance is finalized, Imran’s party PTI may have to remain as the opposition party without forming the government. In this case, Imran’s power is elusive.
