GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher announces retirement from House: ‘Congress is no place to grow old’
Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher announced Saturday that he will not seek re-election to his post in the House. “Eight years ago, when I first ran for Congress, I promised to treat my time in office as a high-intensity deployment. Through my bipartisan work on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, chairing the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and chairing the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve accomplished more on this deployment than I could have ever imagined,” Gallagher said in a statement. “But the Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives,” the congressman continued. “Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election.” LEADING HOUSE REPUBLICAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM CONGRESS: ‘PRIVILEGE OF MY LIFE’ Earlier this week, Gallagher was one of just three Republican House members to vote against the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, joining with all House Democrats and preventing the measure from going forward. In his statement, Gallagher, who has represented Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District in the House since 2017, also offered his appreciation for those who supported his career over time. “Thank you to the good people of Northeast Wisconsin for the honor of a lifetime. Four terms serving you has strengthened my conviction that America is the greatest country in the history of the world. And though my title may change, my mission will always remain the same: deter America’s enemies and defend the Constitution.” In comments provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gallagher said he plans to leave Congress and enter the private sector to spend more time with his family. “I really just feel like I’ve accomplished much more than I even thought I could when I set out, and I firmly don’t believe that the best use for the next chapter of my career is staying in Congress for another decade,” Gallagher told the outlet. CHINA AIMS TO ‘DISPLACE’ THE US AS THE GLOBAL LEADER: REP. MIKE GALLAGHER “Even though my title may change, my job may change, my mission is always going to remain the same,” he added. “My mission is to prevent World War III. I’ve dedicated myself to restoring conventional deterrence in order to prevent a war with China, and so whatever I do next will be an extension of that mission.” The announcement from Gallagher, who served as a United States Marine Corps intelligence officer, comes after a handful of other Republicans recently announced their intentions to retire from Congress. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announced Thursday that she will not be seeking re-election to the House this year, saying in a post to social media that “the time has come to serve the people of Eastern Washington in new ways.” Gallagher’s current term expires on Jan. 3, 2025.
Georgia whistleblowers lining up to testify against Fulton County DA Fani Willis, state lawmaker says
Georgia lawmakers on Friday officially kicked off their investigation into allegations of misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert opened a meeting of the state Senate Special Committee on investigations with a bombshell revelation that multiple whistleblowers from the Fulton County DA’s office have come forward to testify against their boss. He said they allege Willis misused state and federal funds — allegations that come after the embattled DA admitted to having a relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade that critics have called “improper.” “This is not a political witch hunt; this is a quest for the truth,” Cowsert said at Friday’s meeting, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. GOP REP SENDS MESSAGE TO TRUMP PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS WITH CHEEKILY NAMED NEW BILL Trump and attorneys for several of his co-defendants have said Willis should be disqualified over the allegations and all charges against them dismissed. In January, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman filed court documents alleging that Willis had been having an “improper” affair with Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the 2024 GOP front-runner. Roman and his lawyers argue the relationship created a conflict of interest and that she benefited financially from it in the form of lavish vacations the two took using funds his law firm received for working the case. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE HITS TRUMP DA FANI WILLIS WITH ETHICS COMPLAINT Willis has called the allegations “salacious” and said they have no “merit,” though she admitted in a court filing that she and Wade have been “professional associates and friends since 2019.” House Republicans have since subpoenaed Willis to testify on separate allegations that she misused federal funds and fired a whistleblower in her office. Responding, her office said, “These false allegations are included in baseless litigation filed by a holdover employee from the previous administration who was terminated for cause. The courts that have ruled found no merit in these claims. We expect the same result in any pending litigation.” EMBATTLED DA FANI WILLIS FACES 4TH ACCUSATION TO DISQUALIFY HER FROM THE TRUMP CASE Georgia Republicans are leading their own investigation over the objections of Democrats who say Willis’ critics are politically motivated. “I think a political witch hunt or show trial would damage Georgians’ faith in both our political and legal system,” Democratic state Sen. Gloria Butler said, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. But Republicans have plowed ahead. “You lose the confidence of the public and the fairness of the criminal justice system if they think prosecutors are engaged in prosecution so their lovers can get rich,” Cowsert said. He indicated that Willis may be called to testify to the committee. “It’s not a given. I will certainly give her the opportunity, and if I were her, I would want to be heard,” he said. Fox News Digital’s Lawrence Richard and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
Black power and ‘edutainment’: The political roots of hip-hop music
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat I tried to get away but I couldn’t get far ‘Cause the man with the tow truck repossessed my car. It was 1982, and as New York was emerging from one of the worst financial crises in its history, these lyrics by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five struck a chord with listeners. The Message, a gritty indictment of the city’s failed institutions, is broadly viewed as the origin of political hip-hop in the US. “You are into the blowback against the civil rights and Black power movements, where people are trying to roll back the gains that were made during that time frame,” political scientist Adolphus Belk, co-author of For the Culture: Hip-Hop and the Fight for Social Justice, told Al Jazeera. The song’s success was intertwined with the rise of Ronald Reagan, who served as US president for most of the 1980s, Belk noted. Reaganomics, the term applied to his neoliberal economic policies, rewarded the managerial class while neglecting society’s most vulnerable communities – disproportionately African Americans and Latinos. The newly created “marginalised class” in the inner cities would be plagued by poverty, bad schools, drugs and gang violence, while arts programmes suffered massive cuts. “So we went from good times to hard times, and the music changed to reflect what was happening in the society,” Belk said. Grandmaster Flash around 1980. His lyrics in The Message resonated strongly during the rise of Reaganomics [David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images] The seeds of hip-hop’s countercultural movement had begun to sprout a decade earlier, in August 1973, when Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, threw a back-to-school party with his sister in the Bronx borough of New York. They needed a musical act, but hiring one would have been prohibitively expensive. Instead, Kool Herc brought out his own sound system and did what he did best, jumping from one record’s break to another with expert timing. “He revolted. He did not want to play the disco music we heard on the radio,” rapper Kurtis Blow said in the Netflix series, Hip-Hop Evolution. “He wanted to give us the music that we grew up on – the soul music. And it was incredible, because in a world of disco, here is this DJ coming out playing this special kind of music. And this was so important to the birth of hip-hop, that we’re going to be playing funk music.” Hip-hop has since grown into a culturally impactful form of artistic expression, gaining millions of fans while tapping into global phenomena. Its addictive beats and powerful political messaging, experts say, have propelled the genre’s broad appeal, from the US to the Global South. This momentum began to build when Rapper’s Delight, released by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979, was credited with introducing hip-hop to an audience outside the five boroughs of New York. Borrowing from the glitzy and fun-filled themes of mainstream music, the song appealed to a wide cross section of music fans, eventually planting itself on popular shows such as American Bandstand and Soul Train. The Sugarhill Gang (L-R: Wonder Mike, Master G and Big Bank Hank), credited with introducing hip-hop to an audience beyond New York, perform live in 1979 [Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images] Sending a message In the years that followed, spurred on by The Message, a budding movement grew alongside the glamorous world of party hip-hop. Through the late 1980s and early 90s, Afrocentricity and Black consciousness started to permeate the culture, Belk noted. In 1989, artist KRS-One – who popularised the term “edutainment” to describe the use of social commentary via hip-hop music – co-founded a movement called Stop the Violence. Its goal was to address the pervasive violence in Black communities. The movement released a single titled Self Destruction, accompanied by a music video that delivered anti-violence messaging. It was an unprecedented moment in the industry, spurring other artists to follow suit by tackling issues such as gang violence in their lyrics. Notably, while Self-Destruction focused on artists from the US East Coast scene, a group of artists on the West Coast were inspired to release a complementary track the following year titled We’re All in the Same Gang. In this era, the political lane of hip-hop functioned like an unofficial advocacy group to combat social ills, experts say. One of the many pioneers of political hip-hop was Public Enemy, whose very name refers to the marginalisation and targeting of Black people in the US. The group’s work evokes the messaging of organisations such as the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam, which advocate for African-American rights. Lakim Shabazz, perhaps best known for his 1988 single Black is Back, was heavily influenced by the Nation of Islam and its offshoot, the Five-Percent Nation. He espoused the importance of Black nationalism and community self-determination in his lyrics:We got to struggle and fight against apartheid Who are these people tellin’ us where to live and die? Left to right: Lakim Shabazz (aka Larry Walsh), Grandmaster Flash (aka Joseph Saddler) and Q-Tip (aka Kamaal Ibn John Fareed) attend an album release party for A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, on September 16, 1991, in New York City [Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images] Such influences can be found in intros and songs across the genre, with terms such as “knowledge of self” and “dropping jewels” – attributed to the Five-Percent Nation – becoming hip-hop staples. “Early hip-hop pioneers talk about the influence of the Nation of Islam in particular, and the messages of community empowerment, self-determination and upliftment,” Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, a professor of Arab and Muslim American studies and author of Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the United States, told Al Jazeera. Many hip-hop songs and skits are peppered with language and speeches that pay tribute to Black Islam. Big Daddy Kane’s 1988 song Ain’t No Half-Steppin’
Farmers’ protest: Mobile internet, bulk SMS services suspended in parts of Haryana ahead of Feb 13 ‘Delhi Chalo’ march
The Haryana Police on Saturday issued a traffic advisory and urged commuters to limit travel on the main roads of the state to urgent situations on February 13, anticipating potential traffic disruptions on major routes from Haryana to Punjab.
Dems one step closer to replacing Biden with Michelle Obama after damning report, Ramaswamy says
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy doubled down on his theory that Democrats will swap out President Biden with Michelle Obama on their party’s ticket following the release of the special counsel’s report. The bombshell findings from Special Counsel Robert Hur put a spotlight on Biden’s cognitive abilities, saying he would not bring charges against him in part because a jury would find him to be a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” despite the acknowledgment that the classified documents were “willfully” obtained by Biden both as vice president and as a senator. Ramaswamy, who was outspoken on the campaign trail about the belief that the 81-year-old president will ultimately not be the Democratic nominee, told Fox News Digital the special counsel’s report marks the “convenient path” for Democrats to nominate the popular former first lady. FLASHBACK: DEMS RAN DEFENSE ON BIDEN’S AGE BEFORE SPECIAL COUNSEL PUT DAMNING SPOTLIGHT ON HIS ‘POOR MEMORY’ “The main obstacle stopping the Democratic Party is they have a Kamala Harris problem, which is to say that if they do sideline Biden, the natural person normally that would be the nominee, could be the vice president of that same sitting president. But that vice president is unable, I think, to effectively carry forward that job,” Ramaswamy said. “She didn’t make it to the Iowa caucus in the year that she ran, right, even and within her own party, let alone an issue with broader popularity in the country.” “If race and gender are your basis for selecting someone for a job, and the identity of your party is tied to that temple of identity politics, then they will risk looking hypocritical if they sideline her after they sideline Biden. And I do think Michelle Obama offers them a convenient path out of that problem, somebody who checks the boxes that they need to have checked per their own ideology, while also selecting an alternative to Biden that they may view as more palatable in a general election . . . it’s looking increasingly like it’s not going to be Biden as the nominee. And I think that it should not be shocking to see someone like Michelle Obama take the role of the nomination,” Ramaswamy said. BIDEN LASHES OUT AT REPORTERS ASKING ABOUT AGE CONCERNS AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT: ‘THAT’S YOUR JUDGMENT!’ When asked about Hur’s decision not to bring charges against Biden, Ramaswamy said it signaled Biden’s “willingness” to eventually step aside. “I think that coincides within recent months [of] him saying things like, you know, other Democratic nominees could also be successful in the general,” Ramaswamy said. “So I think that we’re seeing a general trend towards what I predicted . . . which is that they would move Biden out of the way. And I think this is one more step in that direction.” MICHELLE OBAMA COULD ‘SNEAK HER WAY’ INTO THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, NY POST COLUMNIST WARNS Hur, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, revealed that Biden had a “hazy” memory about when he was previously in office and when his son Beau died, which happened in 2015. “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report states. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” the report continued. “And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” These revelations, in addition to his recent slew of gaffes, continue to fuel concerns among some voters about the advanced age of Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history. His likely 2024 opponent, former President Trump, will turn 78 in June.
The positive stories Afghanistan needs
These days, Afghanistan makes international headlines more and more rarely and when it does, it is always about yet another tragedy. A humanitarian crisis, an earthquake, a deadly attack, a drought, expelled and suffering refugees. I used to work for Daily Outlook Afghanistan, the first English-language media outlet in the country. In our small newsroom, we recognised the negative psychological impact that the constant stream of bad news had. So we set out to look for positive stories to print side-by-side with our regular coverage and try to counter this decades-old tendency to paint Afghanistan in all-dark colours. Daily Outlook Afghanistan is no more. The newspaper, like many other media outlets, had to shut down shortly after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021. Most of my colleagues fled to neighbouring Iran and Pakistan; one of them, Alireza Ahmadi, tragically died in the bombing of Kabul airport on August 26 that year. So now there are even fewer journalists in the world looking for the positive Afghan story. I, myself, fell into the dark trap of fatalism. From a writer, who always viewed and analysed political issues from the positive side and tried to give hope to the readers amid two decades of war and violence, I turned into a man full of chagrin. Life became extremely hard overnight. I was unemployed, struggling to provide for my family. Everything seemed meaningless to me. I often heard complaints from female relatives about their struggles under the Taliban regime and the ban on secondary and university education. This saddened me and just added to my anguish. As the months passed, I slowly started to realise that I could offer a lot more than words of consolation. As a Chinese proverb goes: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”. So I decided to light the candle of literacy and education. I had years of experience as an English-language teacher, having worked with various educational institutions and initiatives throughout Afghanistan. It was time to put it into use. I found like-minded people who had also decided to start playing a positive role for the younger generation in these hard times. Together, we founded a private academy to teach English in Dasht-e-Barchi, a western neighbourhood of Kabul. None of us had any extra money, so we had to borrow from friends to cover the expenses of renting a space and equipping it with chairs and desks, whiteboards, solar panels, MP3 players and screens. We put together a syllabus ourselves and passed the registration process with the Ministry of Education. Despite the ban on secondary and university education, girls are still allowed to study in private education centres. So we have welcomed them as our students, along with boys. We abide by the legal requirements and keep the girls and boys in separate rooms; we also ensure all female students wear the Islamic hijab in the class as prescribed by the authorities. We have set a low tuition fee that is relatively affordable and we also offer waivers. Of the 200 students currently studying with us, 15 are not paying and 40 are paying half of the fee. The payments we collect are just about enough to cover the rent. We teach for free, but we are still rewarded. The daily encounter with so many young girls and boys who want to study and achieve is inspiring. We have one male student, for example, who recently got into a road accident. A rickshaw hit his motorbike and hurt his fingers seriously. He sent us a message, saying, “I had an accident and going to have a surgical operation. Please pray for me so that my fingers do not be chopped off.” To our surprise, he showed up for class right after he had the surgery. Another student who inspires us with her determination is a 16-year-old girl who works at a tailor shop where she receives little pay to support her family. She is highly keen on learning English but cannot afford to study, so we gave her the opportunity to join our academy without payment. To cover the cost of books and stationery, she sets aside 10 Afghanis ($0.14) every day from her pay. I look back at the past few months in which the academy has been open and I feel regret for losing the previous two years to depression and hopelessness. If we had started earlier, we would have helped many boys and girls pursue their education dreams. Some of the students I taught a few years ago are now studying in foreign countries such as India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, France and the United States. But I am also happy that I have left behind the paralysis of despair and embraced hope. I try to help my students fight depression and despair, as well. I try to inspire enthusiasm and optimism and motivate them to be active in their communities and create the positive stories Afghanistan so dearly needs. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Carnival extravaganza kicks off in Brazil
To thunderous applause, Rio de Janeiro’s mayor coronated King Momo, marking the beginning of the symbolic Carnival monarch’s five-day reign over the revelry which began on Friday. “I officially declare Carnival 2024 open!” King Momo said after Mayor Eduardo Paes bestowed upon him a gigantic, silver and gold key. Confetti flew in a hall of the Palace of the City in the Botafogo neighbourhood where the ceremony took place. Looking on were the usual suspects of Rio’s Carnival scene: revellers dressed as folkloric characters, jaguars and “bate-bolas” – exuberant clowns in identical, elaborate outfits who travel in packs. Festivities will last through to February 14. Paes on Thursday issued a decree making the key ceremony an annual official event, obliging his successors to participate. In 2017, former Mayor Marcelo Crivella broke with tradition and did not hand over the key. Momo, played this year by Caio Cesar Dutra, is charged with “presiding over Carnival festivities, participating in the parades and costume competitions, and promoting the joy of partygoers”, City Hall said in its official gazette on Friday. Brazil Tourism Minister Celso Sabino, also present at the ceremony, said 49 million people across Brazil will take part in festivities, 6.5 percent more than last year. Approximately 200,000 foreigners are set to pour into the country and many of them – scantily dressed and covered in glitter – will join the street parties that occupy and dominate public spaces across Rio, Sao Paulo and other cities. Adblock test (Why?)
Body of missing Palestinian girl Hind Rajab found in destroyed car
NewsFeed The body of six-year-old Hind Rajab has been found decomposing in the car where her family were killed by Israeli gunfire in Gaza City. A few metres away, the ambulance sent to rescue Hind was burnt out with the remains of two medics inside. Published On 10 Feb 202410 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Student killed in Senegal protests over election delay
Violent protests erupt after President Macky Sall postponed presidential elections by several months. A student has been killed in the Senegalese city of Saint-Louis during violent protests against the postponement of the presidential election. Clashes between security forces and protesters gripped Senegal’s capital and other cities on Friday, the first widespread unrest over the delay of a vote that many fear could lead to protracted instability. In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Interior and Public Security said it had been informed of the death of student Alpha Yero Tounkara and that it would be investigated, but denied its forces were to blame. “The Defence and Security Forces did not intervene to maintain order on the university campus where the death occurred,” it said. It was not immediately clear if protests continued on Saturday. Further violent standoffs with security forces will add to fears of democratic retreat. Less than three weeks before the February 25 presidential vote, parliament voted to push it back to December, sealing an extension of President Macky Sall’s mandate, which has raised concerns that one of the remaining democracies in coup-hit West Africa is under threat. Sall has reached his constitutional limit of two terms. The vote in parliament took place after opposition lawmakers were forcibly removed from the chamber as the debate was ongoing. After parliament voted, 39 lawmakers in the opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi, and several opposition presidential candidates filed legal challenges against the delay with the Constitutional Court. In an attempt to quell the anger, Sall said he had postponed the election to restore trust in the electoral process after the list of candidates was put into question. But anger remained high, with critics denouncing the move as an “institutional coup”. “We are fed with Macky Sall, he already had two terms what else does he want?” a protester told Al Jazeera. Adblock test (Why?)
Can Pakistan form a new government on split election results?
Lahore, Pakistan – Two days after Pakistan’s general elections were held, a split mandate has emerged among the big three parties and there is little clarity about who will be able to form a government. According to the latest tally by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), results from 253 National Assembly constituencies had been announced as of Saturday afternoon, out of a total of 266. In a shock result, the largest number of seats have gone to independent candidates, of which at least 93 are backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). In December last year, the party was stripped of its electoral symbol, the cricket bat, accused of violating laws about holding internal party elections, forcing it to field its candidates as independents. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), which entered the election as the expected frontrunner, has emerged with the second-largest mandate, with only 71 seats. In third place is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which managed to secure 54 seats, 11 more than it gained in the 2018 elections. With such a split, the big question now rests on who will be able to form a government in Pakistan, a country of 241 million people which has suffered a turbulent two years with political instability, an economy on the verge of default and rising internal security challenges. The Parliament building in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, one day before polling began [Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg via Getty Images] How is a majority determined? With 266 seats up for grabs in the general elections, a simple majority of 134 is required for any one political party to be able to form a government. Theoretically, however, members of parliament can form a government regardless of their party affiliation. In the PTI’s case, their affiliated candidates can choose to avoid joining other parties and, instead, band together as independents. This would allow them to form a government if they collectively cross the required threshold of 134 seats. However, doing this could result in a weak government, perpetually vulnerable to the whims of individuals who can choose to desert the governing coalition – something which is much harder when tied to a formally organised political party. Another downside of remaining independent is that they would be unable to benefit from the reserved seat quota kept for women and minority candidates. In Pakistan’s lower house, 266 seats are directly elected, with an additional 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for minorities. Those seats are distributed among parties according to the ratio of seats they have won. If PTI-backed candidates do decide to join other parties to form a government, they must announce their decision within three days of the official notification issued by the ECP after the completion of the vote counting, expected by late Saturday. How have other parties reacted? Leaders of the other two parties with the largest number of votes – the PMLN and the PPP – held a meeting late on Friday night in Lahore, after PMLN leader Nawaz Sharif declared his party “victors” in the parliamentary election. Sharif’s claim that his PMLN had emerged as the party with the largest mandate is technically correct since the PTI-backed legislators are independent. However, he also acknowledged that his party had failed in its objective to achieve a simple majority, and is therefore now reaching out to other parties to discuss forming a coalition to be able to form a government. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Abdul Basit, a research fellow at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, noted that provincial results show that the PMLN and independent candidates are neck and neck in Punjab’s provincial assembly, which is considered vital to form a government due to its large number of seats. “What is emerging is that two main parties will have control of two provinces, with PTI getting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and PPP getting Sindh. Whoever controls Punjab will always have a sword of Damocles hanging on their head, due to the divided result,” he added. Why are there allegations of manipulation? While the parties have commenced discussions to form a new government, the PTI has alleged widespread manipulation of the results to steal its majority. Where it could have been in a position to form a government on its own, it now requires coalition support to do so. The party’s leader, Imran Khan, who has been imprisoned after being found guilty of corruption charges, has stated multiple times that the PTI will refuse to be part of a coalition government. The election results came in unusually late despite a deadline set by the country’s poll body. Results started to emerge nearly 10 hours after the voting ended. The PTI has alleged that results from many seats were tampered with to deny it a victory. Some candidates have already started legal action, demanding that the courts issue a stay order on the final results. The international community, including the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, have also demanded an investigation into claims made by the PTI. What will PTI candidates do now? The PTI, unwilling to enter into any formal alliance with another party, is considering joining the opposition benches “under the banner” of another party to gain access to the government. In the meantime, it will also pursue legal avenues to overturn seats it alleges have been stolen from its candidates. “We’ll be merging with a small party so that we go into parliament under a symbol, and that means our candidates will not be independents any more. We will join a political party of the choice of our leader, Imran Khan,” Syed Zulfikar Bukhari, a senior PTI member, told Al Jazeera. However, another prominent PTI member, Gohar Ali Khan, who is heading the party following Khan’s imprisonment, said in a news conference on Saturday that the party will continue to try to form a government since it won the most seats. Election officials begin counting votes at a polling station in Peshawar, Pakistan, on February