New Delhi: In what is being seen as an ‘unprecedented announcement in the political history of Pakistan’, a political party has refused to accept its winning seat in the recently held elections, claiming that their victory was ‘rigged’ and that a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate won the seat.
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman, the president of Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami on Monday announced his decision to give up his provincial assembly seat from Karachi.
Political groups, including PTI, Jamaat-i-Islami, and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, have staged rallies since Saturday protesting alleged poll-rigging. Nonetheless, this marks the first occasion where a party has relinquished its seat.
After last week’s national election, Pakistani politics saw an unexpected shift: two of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s competitors, who had previously backed independent candidates for the prime minister chair, resigned from their party positions, and another publicly gave up his provincial assembly seat after victory.
A fake mandate
Rehman had earlier won the Sindh Assembly seat from Karachi Central. Official results indicate that he received 26,296 votes, while the runner-up got 20,608 votes. However, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader believes that an independent candidate associated with Khan’s party—who came in fourth place with 11,357 votes—was the true victor.
“As a conscientious man, I declare that the PTI-backed candidate has won and I will not avail that seat,” he said on Monday. PTI applauded the statement on X (formerly Twitter).
“This will give strength to many others who were forced by the regime to accept a fake mandate,” the party posted. Several such instances have occurred in the past week.
Similarly, Jahangir Tareen, who was once allied with Khan but later turned against him and started his own party, announced on Monday that he was leaving his position as the head of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). He cited his respect for the “will of the people of Pakistan.”
Many interpreted Tareen’s statements as an acknowledgment of his inability to rival Khan’s popularity, Arab News reported. Another Jamaat-e-Islami member, Siraj-ul-Haq, resigned from office after failing to secure even a single seat in the Assembly.
The PTI’s Karachi president, Khurrum Sher Zaman, stated that Rehman’s action supported his party’s claim—”mandate has been snatched.”
“Amir Jamaat-e-Islami, Siraj-ul-Haq, and Hafiz Naim set a good precedent by quitting from their respective positions as Amir and as MPA candidate. The two chapters created to split PTI, one led by former CM, KP Pervez Khattak and Jehangir Khan Tareen dies its natural death”, political commentator Mazhar Abbas wrote on X.
Also read: What Pakistani celebrities said about the elections—‘vote or shut up’ to poetry
The battle over ‘bogus’ or not
Losing PTI candidates approached the Lahore High Court, challenging the victory of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz. The crux of their allegations revolves around the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declaring results on “bogus” Form-47 instead of the crucial Form-45, which documents and discloses the outcomes of the voting procedure at specific polling stations, Dawn reported.
Form 47, which is the Provisional Results Dashboard section, was taken down from the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) website on Sunday due to accusations of tampering with election results.
In an earlier post on X, Omar Ayub, the secretary general of the PTI, asserted that returning officers (ROs) had fraudulently altered Form 47 of 18 National Assembly seats that PTI-backed independent candidates in Karachi had won.
Joke of democracy
The PTI, facing the loss of its iconic cricket bat symbol, saw a large number of its candidates contesting as independents. Despite securing over 100 clear wins, the party alleged foul play.
“No democracy can function and no government can be formed with Imran Khan. So rid yourself of the misunderstanding that by minusing Imran they will be able to operate a democracy or the government. You will have to bring Imran Khan back. And because ours is the largest political party, he will be the prime minister. And no one can stop him,” PTI leader Latif Khosa was quoted in a Dawn report.
On the other hand, PML-N formed a legal cell to address rigging allegations, with leader Azam Nazeer Tarar emphasising the party’s commitment to defending its case in court. Criticising PTI’s approach, he accused them of fabricating falsehoods and called for a coalition government with representation from all political parties and provinces.
Pakistan’s Army chief, General Asim Munir, backed Sharif in his appeal to his rivals to assist in forming a coalition government on Saturday, urging the nation’s divisive political leadership to form a “unified government of all democratic forces”. The general elections in the country seem to have resulted in a hung Parliament.
Social media, however, erupted in support of Rehman’s decision. The consensus on X is at least in his favour.
“Hafiz Naeem ur Rahman is a good politician. This move from him is crucial to securing JI & his political career. The dynamics have changed, & Pakistanis are more aware than ever. People vote for ideology & principles; not for electables or ethno-nationalist,” a user tweeted.
Another X user offered a piece of advice: “If life gives you Hafiz, make yourself Hafiz Naeem ur Rahman, not Hafiz Asim Munir.”