Supporters of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan staged rallies across the country after his party was sidelined in a vote in the local assembly in Punjab province on Friday, despite an emphatic win in by-elections there earlier in the week.
The vote was held to determine whether the province’s sitting chief minister — Hamza Sharif, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — still enjoyed majority support in the provincial legislature.
Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had hoped to form the new provincial government in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, after the party won 15 out of 20 seats that were available in by-elections on July 17.
The result took the PTI’s strength in the 371-seat assembly to 178 which, together with 10 seats from its ally, the Pakistan Muslim League, would give it a majority.
In Friday’s vote, the PTI candidate for chief minister, Pervez Elahi, initially won 186 votes but the provincial assembly’s deputy speaker, Dost Mohammad Mazari, invalidated 10 of those votes over alleged violations of voting regulations.
In a statement broadcast on national television, Mr Mazari said that 10 politicians from the Pakistan Muslim League, led by Shujaat Hussain, a Khan ally, had broken the rules by ignoring instructions from their party leader to abstain.
Under Pakistani law, votes are disqualified if lawmakers vote contrary to their party’s instructions. Mr Hussain could not be reached for comment.
In the end, Hamza Sharif won 179 votes, retaining the post.
Mr Khan claimed his opponents had resorted to political machinations in Punjab and called on his countrymen to rally against Mr Mazari’s ruling.
Protesters began taking to the streets in major cities across Pakistan on Friday night and the rallies were peaceful.
The PTI posted video and photos showing large protests in Karachi, Lahore, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on its official Twitter account.
Mr Khan was removed from office in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April, a move he claimed was a US conspiracy, a charge that both his successor and Washington deny.
He wants the government to call early parliamentary elections to determine whether he or Shehbaz Sharif has more popular support.
Mr Sharif has refused to accept the challenge, saying the next elections will be held in 2023 as scheduled.
