KP CM Afridi accuses Sindh govt of stealing PTI’s mandate

• CM Afridi urges lawyer to launch movement.
• Says: “The nation and we [PTI] are looking at lawyers.”
• CM says Imran Khan believes in peaceful struggle.
  

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led Sindh government of “stealing” the mandate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the February 8, 2024, general elections.

The KP chief minister made the remarks a day after the Karachi rally, during which more than 30 PTI supporters were arrested, and clashes erupted between police and activists of the former ruling party.

Speaking to the media at the residence of PTI Karachi chapter Vice President Faheem Khan, the KP chief minister — who was on his maiden visit to the city after assuming office — said: “Our symbol was taken away, our votes were stolen, and PTI founder [Imran Khan] was sent to jail.” 

The Imran Khan-founded party has repeatedly claimed that the PML-N-led ruling alliance, in collaboration with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), manipulated the election results to keep the PTI out of power.

The former ruling party, according to media reports, has also insisted that the public mandate was stolen through Form 47, asserting that it originally won 174 of the 266 National Assembly seats based on Form 45.

CM Afridi, who has left Karachi for Peshawar after concluding his three-day visit to Sindh as part of PTI’s street mobilisation movement, said that his party’s mandate was stolen before introducing the constitutional amendments.  

Separately, addressing the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), PTI-backed chief minister urged the lawyers to launch a movement for the supremacy of law and the constitution in the country and assured them of his firm support.

“We have to stand up for our rights,” the chief minister said, adding that they should not be afraid of anyone, as life and death are in the hands of Almighty Allah.

“The nation and we [PTI] are looking at lawyers,” he added.

Lauding his leader, Khan, the chief minister said that the PTI founder always gave a lesson of peaceful struggle.

PTI founder, who has been in jail since August 2023, faces multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition’s no-trust motion in April 2022.