On August 8, 2018, Pakistan’s opposition parties gathered in Islamabad to protest the rigging of last month’s elections. These rallies were organized by the 11-party coalition, the Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFE).
According to a news report: “Leaders of various parties demanded senior officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan resign for failing to stay neutral during the polls. Some leaders also blamed the judiciary and the military for interference. “The judiciary and the military have shown that they are no more neutral,” said Fazl-ur-Rehman, a leader of MMA, an alliance of religious leaning political parties.”
A news report stated: “It was a good beginning in the sense that the opposition highlighted its demand and agitation over the alleged rigging, and kept their show nonviolent at the same time. It did not cause disruption of normal life, which is generally done so that the protest is duly registered.”
While, the demonstration in Islamabad, “failed to get large crowds, as the top leadership of two major parties, the PPP and PML-N stayed away” yet “Hundreds of supporters gathered on August 8 in the capital, Islamabad, after the parties of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and ex-President Asif Ali Zardari and other organizations called for a march on Pakistan’s Election Commission and demanded an investigation into the results.”
