Religious political alliance rallies in Hangu against election results

Religious political alliance rallies in Hangu against election results
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who heads the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance, had threatened to agitate against fraud in Wednesday’s vote. (ARIF ALI/AFP/FILE)
Updated 27 July 2018
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Religious political alliance rallies in Hangu against election results

Religious political alliance rallies in Hangu against election results
  • The protest was the first against election results by the opposition
  • Supporters from an alliance of religious political parties claimed many of their votes were rejected by election officials

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of supporters from an alliance of religious political parties are rallying in the northwest Pakistan city of Hangu alleging this week’s national elections were fraudulent.
Friday’s protest was the first against election results by the opposition.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who heads the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance, had threatened to agitate against fraud in Wednesday’s vote.
They claimed many of their votes were rejected by election officials and their election agents were thrown out of the room by security forces during vote counts.
According to official results, Rehman’s alliance secured only 12 seats in the National Assembly out of 269 contested seats.
His alliance ruled Pakistan’s northwest from 2002 to 2007 following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.