Pakistan opposition alliance to protest 'electoral fraud'

Islamabad : An alliance of 11 opposition political parties in Pakistan announced on Saturday that they will be holding demonstrations across the country to protest alleged electoral fraud during the July 25 general elections.

The first of the protests by the alliance, that includes former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) party, has been planned for August 8 in Islamabad.

Pakistan Peoples Party led by Bilawal Bhutto, the regional Awami National Party as well as an alliance of five religious parties Muttahida Majlis-e-Alam will also take part in the protests.

"Our first protest will be outside the Election Commission in Islamabad in which ticket holders, elected candidates and party workers will participate," Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of the PML-N told Efe news.

The 11 parties of the alliance opposed to former cricketer Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party -- who won the elections amid accusations of electoral rigging -- will also demonstrate on Thursday outside provincial Election Commission offices across the country.

"The opposition parties have made a grand alliance with the name of Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Election. It's a 11-party alliance which will protest against the rigging," said Syed.

The announcement came a day after Khan's party struck an alliance with a regional party to come to power in the centre. The polls were the second one in the country's history when an elected government had completed its entire term and made way for a new government.