Pakistan's opposition protests against alleged poll rigging

- Information minister says people have rejected protest call

KARACHI, Pakistan

Rallies and demonstrations were held, while a partial strike was observed in several parts of Pakistan on the call of the opposition alliance to protest alleged rigging in the February 2024 general elections.

The call was given by Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), a conglomerate of several opposition parties, including the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) party of the country's incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan, on the second anniversary of the Feb. 8 elections.

The government and the Election Commission of Pakistan reject the rigging allegations.

A partial strike was observed in several districts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including the capital, Peshawar, where the PTI has been ruling for the third consecutive term.

An effective strike was reported from various parts of southwestern Balochistan province, particularly its capital Quetta, where shops and markets remained closed. Traffic was also scanty.

Shops and markets remained open in the capital Islamabad and the second-largest city, Lahore, despite the strike call.

In Lahore, citizens in large numbers remained busy with kite flying and celebrating the Basant festival, which marks the advent of spring, according to the government of Punjab, for which Lahore serves as the capital.

Traffic also remained normal in the commercial capital Karachi, where Sunday is a closed day.

Videos posted by the PTI leaders showed opposition activists burning old tires to block the roads in parts of Balochistan.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, in a post on the US social media platform X, said people have rejected the PTI's protest call.

The PTI accused the government of arresting hundreds of its supporters from across the country ahead of the protest. The government, for its part, said that "some" arrests were made under the country's public maintenance law, which allows authorities to detain individuals for up to three months who could be a threat to law and order.

Khan, 74, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been languishing in a jail in the northeastern garrison city of Rawalpindi since 2023.

He has been sentenced to 14 years in jail along with his wife in a corruption case, in addition to facing dozens of other cases.

Khan denies the allegations and terms the cases politically motivated.