ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s newly elected lower house of parliament met for the first time on Thursday (Feb 29) with freshly elected members taking oaths amid protests on the floor of the house by supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party backed by Khan alleges that the Feb 8 national election was rigged against them and has called for an audit of the polls. No single party won a majority.
Candidates backed by Khan won the most seats but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have agreed to an alliance to form a coalition government.
“Who will save Pakistan? Imran Khan, Imran Khan,” SIC members chanted as legislators, including the prime minister in waiting Shehbaz Sharif, signed the membership register of the National Assembly.
One SIC member held up a poster reading “Release Imran Khan” as he went up to the speaker’s dais to sign.
SIC’s Omar Ayub, Khan’s candidate to be prime minister, told journalists the party would seek the release of the former cricket hero who was has been convicted in a string of cases and faces over a decade in jail.
The election for the prime minister will be held on Mar 4, local broadcaster Geo News reported.