ISLAMABAD - Pakistan police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Feb 11 after his party urged protests outside election offices where they said rigging had taken place in last week’s national vote.

Clashes were reported in Rawalpindi city, south of the capital, and Lahore, in the east, while dozens of other protests were held across the country without incident.

The police warned earlier they would come down hard on illegal gatherings. There were no immediate reports of injuries from the protests.

Independent candidates – most linked to 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.

But 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 that the military establishment was influencing the process to ensure success for the PML-N.

“Throughout Pakistan, the elections were manipulated in a subtle way,” PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan told a press conference on Feb 10, calling on supporters to “protest peacefully” on Feb 11.

The authorities warned that they would take strict action, saying so-called Section 144 orders were in place – under a colonial-era law banning gatherings of two or more people.

“Some individuals are inciting illegal gatherings around the Election Commission and other government offices,” said a statement on Feb 11 from Islamabad’s police force.

“Legal action will be taken against unlawful assemblies. It should be noted that soliciting for gatherings is also a crime.”

A similar warning was also issued in the city of Rawalpindi, while dozens of police equipped with riot gear assembled near Liberty Market in Lahore.

In Rawalpindi, AFP staff saw police fire tear gas at a crowd of dozens of PTI supporters after they refused orders to stop picketing an office used to collect constituency election results.

Another gathering of around 200 PTI supporters in Lahore dispersed quickly when police moved in with riot shields and batons.

Local media said several people were detained in Karachi, in the south, when they refused orders to clear the area.

Khan’s party defied a months-long crackdown that crippled campaigning and forced candidates to run as independents to emerge as the winners of Feb 8’s vote.

Final results were announced on Feb 11, with independents winning 101 seats, PML-N taking 75, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at 54 and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement with 17.

Ten minor parties mopped up the remaining 17 seats, with two remaining vacant.

“The results have clearly indicated that no single party possesses a simple majority to establish a government,” said political analyst and author Zahid Hussain.

“The political future of the country from this point onwards is highly uncertain.”

Still, PTI leaders insist they have been given a “people’s mandate” to form the next government.

“The people have decided in favour of Imran Khan,” PTI chairman Khan told Arab News in an interview.

A coalition between the PML-N and the PPP – which formed the last government after ousting Khan with a vote of no confidence in April 2023 – still seems the most likely outcome.

The country’s military chief told feuding politicians to show “maturity and unity”.

“The nation needs stable hands and a healing touch to move on from the politics of anarchy and polarisation which does not suit a progressive country of 250 million people,” General Syed Asim Munir said in a statement released on Feb 10.

The military looms large over Pakistan’s political landscape, with generals having run the country for nearly half its history since partition from India in 1947.

The PML-N, founded by three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, declared victory as the party with the largest number of seats, but to form a government, he will be forced to cut deals with rivals and independents.

Khan was barred from contesting the election after being handed several lengthy prison sentences in the days leading up to the vote.

He was convicted earlier in February of treason, graft and having an unIslamic marriage in three separate trials – among nearly 200 cases brought against him since he was ousted. AFP