Mobile and internet services in Quetta have been suspended for two days starting Sunday night, a precautionary measure linked to ongoing protests in the region. The services are expected to resume by midnight on Tuesday, January 7.

The suspension follows a shutter-down strike called by the Jamiat Ulema-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party in protest of alleged election “rigging.” JUI-F Balochistan leader Maulana Abdul Wasay has stated “The protest will continue until we get our rights.”

In addition to the protest-related disruption, Pakistan has suffered significant financial losses due to internet shutdowns in recent years. The country faced internet disruptions costing $1.62 billion in 2024, the highest globally, surpassing even Myanmar and Sudan. Pakistan experienced 18 internet shutdowns last year, affecting 83 million users, and businesses endured a heavy toll due to these outages, which amounted to over 9,700 hours.

The longest and most costly disruption occurred in February 2024 with the temporary suspension of X (formerly Twitter), resulting in a $1.34 billion loss. Another notable shutdown in Balochistan during protests in July and August cost $11.8 million after 864 hours of disruption.

Meanwhile, in the PB-45 Quetta constituency, unofficial results from the re-polling show Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Ali Madad Khattak winning with 6,883 votes. Nasarullah Zayrai of PMAP and JUI-F’s Usman Pirkani secured 4,122 and 3,731 votes, respectively. This follows the Supreme Court’s approval of an election tribunal’s decision to recount votes at 15 polling stations in PB-45, which uncovered discrepancies and boosted the petitioner’s vote count by 4,912 votes. The court dismissed an appeal from PPP’s Mir Ali Madad Jatak, confirming the tribunal’s findings.

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