Balochistan paralyzed by protests over election rigging claims; highways blocked, cities shut down

Ghulam Nabi Marri, a key figure in the Balochistan National Party (Mengal group) made it clear to both provincial and federal authorities that they would not budge from their protests because the alleged rigging had been blatant in the elections.The protests are being staged by a four-party alliance of the National Party, Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), BNP-Mengal and PKMAP.According to reports, a complete shutter down strike was also observed on Tuesday in Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Nushki, Kalat, Mastung, Khuzdar, Loralai, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Zhob, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Sibi, Nasirabad, Dera Murad Jamali, Ziarat, Barkhan and other towns of Balochistan.Interestingly Khusal Khan Kakar had won a National Assembly seat, as per ECP’s unofficial result. But, in a later recount, JUI-F Syed Samiullah was declared the winner.To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the National Assembly.In Balochistan, 23,02,522 votes were cast for 16 seats of the National Assembly. The voting turnout was 42.9 per cent. There were 53,70,804 registered votes.In the Balochistan Provincial Assembly, PPP won 11 seats, PML-N won nine, Jui-F won eight, and independents won five, while many seats were won by the smaller parties.



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