Imran Khan’s PTI to boycott Pakistan by-elections, citing unfair playing field

Imran Khan’s party decides to boycott upcoming by-elections in Pakistan

The party of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to boycott the upcoming by-elections for the national and provincial assemblies.

The decision is taken by the party’s political committee, which met to consider Khan’s input following a meeting with his legal team at Adiala Jail, The Dawn newspaper reported.

Khan’s message was relayed to the media by his sister, Aleema Khan, who also met him in prison.

She said her brother had asked the party’s political committee to hold another meeting on the by-election issue based on his instructions.

This comes after several national and provincial assembly seats became vacant last month following the conviction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders for their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots.

Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser confirmed that in Khan’s opinion, the party should not go into by-elections, and that its lawmakers should leave all parliamentary standing committees, including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), according to Dawn.

“Parliament has already been made a rubber stamp, as the voice of the opposition members has been suppressed by not telecasting their remarks on the floor of the house,” he said.

“Khan was of the view that the government will not let the PTI candidate win by-elections… [and] if [we] take part in the elections, it will legitimise the government’s illegal action of de-seating PTI legislators,” he added.

PTI lawmaker Amir Dogar confirmed that the political committee had endorsed Khan’s opinion on not contesting the by-elections, adding that party lawmakers would also start quitting parliamentary bodies soon.

PTI’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram had earlier posted on social media that candidates would be fielded on Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) tickets to prevent them from being labelled as ‘independents’.

Meanwhile, last week, Pakistan’s two major ruling coalition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), announced their decision to jointly contest the upcoming by-elections.

(With agenyc inputs)