The party of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will hold nationwide protests on February 17.

Jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party on Thursday called for nationwide “peaceful protests” on Saturday against its “marginalization” in the country’s politics and said it would not allow rival parties to “steal” the people’s mandate. ‘ Won’t let me do it.

Pakistan’s two major political parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – will form a coalition government on Tuesday after inconclusive elections on February 8.

His move means Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party will no longer be in power, despite independent candidates supported by it securing the maximum seats in the National Assembly.

In a change in strategy, PTI said it will hold nationwide protests over the weekend against alleged rigging in the elections while attending the national and provincial assemblies.

The party had earlier opted to either boycott or walk out of the assemblies when launching protests, but the new strategy showed it would also take to the streets inside and outside Parliament to press for its demand to improve the results. Wanted to put pressure, which she says was rigged.

Senior PTI leader Barrister Gauhar Ali Khan told reporters after meeting former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Adiala jail that his party chief has given instructions to hold peaceful protests across the country.

“PTI workers will hold peaceful protests across the country on Saturday against election manipulation and rigging,” he said.

PTI leader denied reports of forming government with PPP. “We will not negotiate with PPP. Gauhar said, PTI founder Imran Khan has a clear stand that he will not share power with PML-N and PPP.

“This election will decide how free the people of Pakistan are,” Gauhar said. He said his party would not allow the mandate to be “stolen”.

Gauhar Ali Khan claimed that her party had managed to win 180 seats in the National Assembly in the general elections held on February 8, but an attempt was made to ‘loot’ its mandate through alleged rigging.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday night named 72-year-old Shehbaz as its prime ministerial candidate. To form the government, a party must win 133 of the 265 seats contested in the 266-member National Assembly.

Independent candidates, mostly supported by Khan’s PTI, won 101 seats. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N has won 75 seats and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s PPP has won 54 seats.

PTI-backed candidates contested the elections as independents due to the party losing its election symbol ‘Balla’ following the party’s dispute over intra-party elections.

Gauhar Ali Khan also invited other political parties to participate in the protest against the alleged rigging.

“We just want you to participate and it’s a question of your freedom,” he said.

He also warned against arrest of his workers who were involved in peaceful protests, which is their legal and constitutional right.

Earlier, PTI leader Hammad Azhar had said in a message that his party will soon take out a protest march in Punjab province against the alleged rigging.

“All candidates and workers of Punjab should start preparing for peaceful protests on an emergency basis,” he said in a message on Telegram.

He had also announced that people should be ready to come out on Imran Khan’s call against the ‘stolen mandate’.

Separately, party leader Asad Qaiser said after meeting Imran Khan that the party would join Parliament and present Omar Ayub Khan as its prime ministerial candidate.

PTI has learned a lesson from its previous mistake of resigning from Parliament and the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assemblies in 2022, which increased its troubles. PTI decided to resign en masse in 2022 after Imran Khan’s government lost the no-confidence motion against him in the Parliament and resigned.

The new plan is also to sit in meetings and start protests.

Its previous strategy failed when it resigned to force the government to call snap elections, and it is too early to say whether the new policy will be successful.

(This story is published as part of an auto-generated syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, there have been no edits to the copy by ABP Live.)