Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Saturday that “peaceful protestors” were being detained for staging protests against suspected electoral malpractice on February 8th, Dawn reported.
PTI members who were led by former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, including those from its Insaf Lawyers Forum, assembled in front of the Lahore High Court and at the GPO Chowk, where they were joined by attorneys.
On the social media site X, the PTI posted a video that appeared to show a large police presence in the neighborhood. The police were seen ordering a man to exit his car and transporting him to a police van to detain him.
The PTI party said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was “scared of peaceful protests and that she has deployed a huge quantity of police officers to stop our protests.”
According to Dawn, the party also declared that they would stage demonstrations against alleged election manipulation in over thirty places on February 8.
The PTI stated in another tweet on X that candidates who are supported by the party would hold rallies in their local communities.
The PTI has scheduled “peaceful protests” at several sites, including the press clubs in Hyderabad and Karachi.
It had previously stated that other political parties would join them.
On February 8, Pakistan conducted its 12th national general election, which was met with accusations of tampering and the suspension of internet and mobile services. In the general elections held on February 8, the PTI emerged victorious, fielding the greatest number of candidates. But the party claims that the polls were rigged.
According to a Geo News report, the PTI has declared that the votes were “not free and fair” and that it intends to organize nonviolent protests across the nation in response to the alleged rigging.
In the meantime, Punjab, Balochistan, and the Central region will be governed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the second and third biggest parties in the elections.