The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has said that it would initiate an agitation against the alleged rigging on February 8 that resulted in the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) win in Sindh and that its two MPAs-elect will not take oath in protest against allaged ‘bogus’ polls.
GDA leaders Pir Pagara and Dr. Safdar Abbasi made the declaration at a press conference on Monday, following a meeting of the alliance's senior leaders to examine the province's post-poll scenario.
The GDA has declared that the first phase of the agitation effort in the province will include a protest sit-in on the Hyderabad Bypass on February 16. The coalition further stated that additional anti-PPP parties will be approached to join their agitation efforts.
Pir Pagara, the GDA leader, denounced the general elections, calling them anti-state elections, and warned that they might have serious consequences for the state, similar to how the leader of then-East Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was not accepted as the chairman of the majority party in 1970.
Pagara asked state institutions to play an appropriate role in the country's post-election environment. He said that the PPP could never have won such a landslide victory in Sindh due to its alleged poor administration during its 15-year tenure.
The GDA leader further stated that the agitation would be nonviolent and would not involve any anti-state action. He stated that the protest sit-ins planned by the GDA as part of its agitation program will not impede the free passage of ambulances and other vehicles transporting families.
"We have been granted two seats (in the Sindh Assembly) as a charity. We return these seats because they should be handed to Zardari," stated the GDA leader. He congratulated young supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for their overwhelming support for their party's candidates in the 2024 general election.