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Leaders from a coalition of Baloch, Pashtoon and Hazara nationalist parties accused the process of being marred by corruption, and called for a wheel jam strike today (Sunday), as reported by Dawn.
Moreover, they also rejected the results of the February 8 general elections and accused that they were given Rs 70 billion in Balochistan for electoral victories. They were speaking at a joint public meeting in front of the office of the Quetta district returning officer on Saturday, according to Dawn. The heads called for a province-wide wheel jam strike and declared that they would support parties that would stop civil and military interference in politics. The heads of these four parties, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), National Party (NP) and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), alleged that the candidates declared winners in the elections did not secure their positions through legitimate votes but were instead aided by "supernatural entities". They further said that the Baloch people had been denied their real mandate, which was a crime, and those involved must be tried under Article 6 of the Constitution, as reported by Dawn. Moreover, the ongoing sit-ins in Quetta, Dera Murad Jamali, and other urban centres have reached their 8th day, drawing in hundreds of supporters, including a significant number of women, Dawn reported. While highways leading to Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reopened after being blocked for over a week, Quetta-Chaman and Quetta-Taftan highways remain obstructed at various points, causing inconvenience to travellers. Additionally, the protest landscape includes workers and supporters from the PPP, although not part of the alliance, protesting in the Dera Allahyar highway areas against the reported alteration of the result of PPP candidate Baba Ghulam Rasool. (ANI)
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