Partial strike in KPK against poll ‘rigging’
islamabad — Partial shutdown was observed in various cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday in response to a call by a three-party opposition alliance over alleged rigging in the recent local government elections.
The alliance comprising the Awami National Party (ANP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) staged rallies demanding resignation of present government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf in the province and re-election under a neutral administration. The provincial assembly should also be dissolved and new polls held, they demanded.
Private TV channels showed scenes of ANP and JUI-F workers forcing shopkeepers to shut their business while at certain places traders and protesters engaged in scuffles.
The PPP, which has found itself completely routed in these elections and the 2013 general polls, had a lukewarm participation in the protest.
ANP’s Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who led the protest, claimed that the shopkeepers shut their businesses voluntarily. He said the protest would continue until the resignation of the provincial government.
Iftikhar reiterated that KPK Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was responsible for what he described as worst-ever rigging in the polls. Khattak denied all allegations and emphatically asserted that the Election Commission was in full control of the police and administration under the constitution and must accept the responsibility of mismanagement and irregularities.