New govt won’t last more than five months, claims Haleem

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh claimed on Monday that the new government would not last more than five months because it sits on a mandate that has been stolen.

Addressing a press conference with PTI Karachi President Khurrum Sher Zaman and other party leaders at the Karachi Press Club, Sheikh said that the public voted in large numbers for the PTI in the 2024 general elections.

He said that the Form 45s are the undeniable evidence of his party’s victory. However, he claimed, the returning officers changed the election results illegally.

He also said the PTI’s electoral symbol ‘bat’ was snatched, the party’s candidates were assigned strange symbols and even the internet service was shut down on Election Day, yet the people cast their votes in favour of the PTI in large numbers.

He claimed that the PTI had won 183 National Assembly seats across the country, including 20 in Karachi and two in Hyderabad, as well as 38 Sindh Assembly seats. “We have the Form 45s as proof of our victory. We would go to court to take back our mandate.”

Sheikh said the PTI had moved the Sindh High Court against the alleged rigging, but their petitions were rejected and referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He said the ECP had also rejected the PTI’s pleas and referred them to the election tribunals.

“Our mandate was shamelessly stolen. The ECP failed to uphold the constitution and the law. If not today, then tomorrow the Kaptaan [party founder] will return and hold the usurpers accountable.”

Zaman claimed on the occasion that the mandate of Karachi was stolen in 2018 as well as in 2024. Without naming any party, he said the people should boycott those thieves. He also said that after the PTI’s intra-party elections on March 3, they would approach the court with proof. “We have confidence in our courts. We hope they will do justice.” The PTI leaders also announced that they would hold a symbolic hunger strike across the country in protest against the alleged rigging in this month’s elections.