ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sheikh Waqas Akram has accused the state of stealing the party’s mandate from the February 8, 2024 elections and called the distribution of reserved seats an act of plunder. Speaking to media on Monday, Akram said that the political system had been paralyzed and truth had become a punishable offense in Pakistan.
He claimed that there was no rule of law or justice in the country, adding that the reserved seats were treated like spoils of war and distributed accordingly. “The hopes of the entire nation have been crushed. This is a country where speaking the truth has become a crime,” he remarked.
He also accused political opponents of setting up buying and selling markets inside Sindh House, blaming them for political horse-trading. “PTI’s founder made a democratic resistance, yet the party which won 180 seats was sidelined, while a party with only 17 seats was handed over power with 110 seats,” he alleged.
Sheikh Waqas added that the entire judicial system has collapsed, and meetings with the PTI founder are deliberately delayed. “We are stopped outside Adiala Jail till 4 PM, only to be told that time is over,” he said. He urged authorities to restore meeting access with the party’s founder and vowed to keep using all constitutional and legal forums.
Commenting on the Punjab Assembly budget session, he said that PTI members protested, after which 26 lawmakers were banned and 10 opposition members were fined Rs2 million. He condemned the speaker’s conduct and said their MPAs have been facing terrorism charges since the May 9 incidents.
“The world is watching what’s being done to Pakistan’s most popular leader,” Sheikh Waqas Akram concluded, warning that democracy cannot survive under such conditions.
