Pakistan: Hundreds protest rulings against PML-N party

Hundreds of members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) demonstrated in the country’s fourth-largest city late Monday, protesting court rulings against their party leaders.

PML-N members in Rawalpindi, Punjab chanted slogans against the country premier's intelligence agency, Inter Services Intelligence or ISI, and court verdicts against their leaders.

The protesters came out on roads after a local court sentenced PML-N candidate and key Nawaz party leader Hanif Abbasi to life and disqualified him for elections just three days before Wednesday's nationwide polls. 

On Saturday, Justice Shaukat Aziz Sadiqqui, a senior sitting judge of the Islamabad High Court, claimed that ISI officials approached his chief justice and told him: “We will not let Nawaz Sharif and his daughter get out of jail prior to the general elections,” referring to the ousted premier and former PML-N leader.

The ailing Sharif and his daughter have been in jail for corruption since returning to Pakistan on Friday.

Later, the Pakistan army requested the country’s top court initiate an inquiry into Sadiqqui’s allegations. 

“The honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested to initiate an appropriate process to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and take action accordingly,” said Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, Pakistani military spokesman, on Sunday. 

'Engineering' allegations

Pakistan’s main political parties have accused the country’s powerful army of “engineering” the elections to propel former cricket star Imran Khan’s party into government -- a charge Khan has repeatedly denied. 

According to analysts, the country’s powerful establishment has failed to end the public support for Nawaz’s party despite his corruption conviction, with large numbers of people still showing their support. 

“The protest in Rawalpindi was unprecedented and I think now people in Punjab are showing resistance,” Professor Aijaz Khattak, an Islamabad-based political analyst, told Anadolu Agency.

Punjab, the country's most populous province, is consider a stronghold of the PML-N. 

Haq Nawaz Khan, a senior journalist based in the capital Islamabad, said PML-N members are not happy with the treatment of their leaders and now they are resisting. 

“Punjab has been a strong base for right-wing political parties and also a huge support base for the Pakistan armed forces, but alleged influence in the elections is seen as serious and will have a negative impact on post-polls scenarios,” he said.

He added that as Pakistan is facing political and economic instability, if the former ruling PML-N is defeated, this may further aggravate the situation. 

But Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor, Pakistani army spokesman, rejected any speculations about the Pakistan armed forces swaying the polls. 

“The Election Commission of Pakistan has requisitioned the Pakistan armed forces under Article 220 and 225 of the Constitution to assist them in free, fair and transparent conduct of elections 2018. [We] shall undertake this mandated duty enabling the people of Pakistan to freely exercise their democratic right in a safe and secure environment,” he said on Twitter.

Pakistan’s general elections are set for Wednesday.