Pakistan police threaten crackdown after Khan party calls protests
The Hindu
Pakistan police warn of crackdown on illegal gatherings after Imran Khan's party urges protests against alleged election rigging.
Pakistan police warned on Sunday they would come down hard on illegal gatherings after the party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan urged supporters to protest against alleged rigging in last week's election.
Independent candidates — most linked to Mr. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party — took the most seats in the polls, scuppering the chances of the Army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win a ruling majority.
However, independents cannot form a government and the country faces weeks of political uncertainty as rival parties negotiate possible coalitions.
PTI leaders claim they would have won even more seats if not for vote rigging.
A nationwide election-day mobile telephone blackout and the slow counting of results led to suspicions the military establishment was influencing the process to ensure success for former premier Nawaz Sharif's PML-N.
"Throughout Pakistan, elections were manipulated in a subtle way," PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan told a news conference on Saturday, calling on supporters to "protest peacefully" on Sunday.
Authorities warned they would take strict action, saying so-called Section 144 orders were in place — a colonial-era law banning public gatherings.
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