PTI strength in NA falls to 76

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Monday that his party had won 180 seats in February 8, 2024, general elections, but the mandate was “snatched away”, and its strength in the National Assembly has now been reduced to 76 lawmakers.

Talking to the media outside Parliament House, where PTI leaders and members protested for the restoration of their legislators, including Omar Ayub as Leader of Opposition, Gohar said the mandate given by the masses was not recognised as the PTI received 30 million votes.

He said movement will continue until every “beloved leader” is released. “We have always condemned May 9 incidents, our leaders were sentenced to five and ten years imprisonment; Dr. Yasmin Rashid is 74 years old, a cancer patient.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, asked was the “terrorism of May 9 dangerous or was it more dangerous to steal the election?”

He regretted that PTI’s election symbol was taken away, and now several leaders have been sentenced to ten years in prison in the May 9 cases.

Achakzai said at present there is no Constitution or law in the country and vowed not to allow this assembly to function. Senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser said they will challenge today’s ATC decision in court and claimed justice is not seen delivered in these decisions. “We hope that we will get relief from the court, the court’s decision regarding the opposition leader in the Senate is also awaited. The decisions regarding the opposition leaders are an attack on democracy, the kind of decisions that have been made show the worst fascist attitudes,” he charged.