Against bitter history of election-rigging, Pakistan’s latest polls marred by manipulation claims 

Special Against bitter history of election-rigging, Pakistan’s latest polls marred by manipulation claims 
Members of the polling staff set up a polling station for the Feb. 8 parliamentary elections, in Karachi on February 7, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 08 February 2024
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Against bitter history of election-rigging, Pakistan’s latest polls marred by manipulation claims 

Against bitter history of election-rigging, Pakistan’s latest polls marred by manipulation claims 
  • Independent observers and politicians say most elections in the country have been tainted to some degree over the decades
  • Military denies it is against any particular party and caretaker government overseeing elections says it has no favorites for Feb. 8 polls

ISLAMABAD: A former prime minister and arguably the country’s most popular politician is behind bars. His party says it is facing a state-backed crackdown. Multiple electoral nominees backed by him have seen their candidatures rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan. And another political big-wig, previously imprisoned and until recently in exile, has returned to political activities in the country with what is widely believed to be the backing of the all-powerful military. 
This is the background against which millions of Pakistanis are going out to vote today, Thursday: amid accusations of a widespread military-backed and state-sanctioned crackdown on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been in jail since August over a raft of charges, including corruption. Hundreds of his supporters, party members and key aides are under arrest or have gone underground or deserted their leader. 
The military, which has for decades held sway over Pakistan’s politics, denies the charges and the caretaker government overseeing the elections says it has no favorites. 
But rigging allegations are nothing new in Pakistan where independent observers and political leaders say most elections have been tainted to some degree across the decades. 
Pakistan, which gained independence from Britain in 1947, held its first general elections on Dec. 2, 1970 with East Pakistani leader Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman’s Awami Muslim League (AML) party emerging as the winner. However, military ruler and President Yahya Khan and Sheikh’s main rival Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did not want a party from East Pakistan in the federal government, leading to a delay in the inauguration of the National Assembly. Unrest followed and deteriorated into a civil war that led to the secession of the east wing of the country and the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh in March 1971.
Since then, the results of almost all elections in present-day Pakistan have been questioned by political leaders, while no political party has ever been able to secure two consecutive terms, nor has a prime minister completed a full five-year term in office.
HISTORY OF RIGGING ALLEGATIONS
Pakistan’s second general election in 1977 is believed to have been rigged by Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party while the next one in 1985 was organized under the military rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq on a nonpartisan basis, with most of the elected MNAs being supporters of the army regime. General elections in 1988 once again came with allegations of rigging against the PPP and Bhutto’s daughter Benazir Bhutto became the first woman elected to head a democratic government in a Muslim-majority country.
General elections in October 1990, a contest between the People’s Democratic Alliance led by the PPP against the conservative nine-party Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) alliance headed by Nawaz Sharif, ended with a surprise victory for the IJI. The Supreme Court of Pakistan would later rule that two army generals — Mirza Aslam Baig and Asad Durrani — along with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, had provided financial assistance to favored parties, thereby manipulating the vote to deliberately weaken the mandate of the Pakistan Peoples Party. 
Shairif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party says the 1993 election, which saw the PPP emerge victorious and began a second prime ministerial term for Benazir, was rigged in favor of the PPP. A few years later, Benazir alleged that election officials had rigged the 1997 election, in which the PML-N won a landslide victory. The 2002 elections were held under the military rule of General Pervez Musharraf, with several restrictions imposed on the PPP and PML-N parties and both Benazir and Sharif in exile.
The 2008 elections, won by the the PPP, took place against the background of several attacks targeting leftist politicians and political rallies, while Khan and his PTI decried rigging of the 2013 polls and in 2014 organized a nearly four-month long sit-in in the Pakistani capital against what they called the illegal government of the PML-N.
Finally, the last election, in 2018, was marked by widespread allegations of rigging by the military to tilt the vote in favor of Khan, who would be sworn in as prime minister and rule until 2022. The military has denied it interfered in the vote. 
METHODS OF RIGGING
In Pakistan, according to political analyst Ahmed Ejaz, three methods of rigging have been adopted: pre-poll, as well as manipulation on polling day and after voting. Pre-poll rigging, he argued, had been the “most effective method” and would most likely affect the results of the upcoming elections also. 
“The establishment has been [pre]rigging the elections in various ways to make their favored party successful,” he said. 
Methods include allegations of corruption against rivals, forcing candidates to switch parties, creating artificial political alliances, spreading negative propaganda and creating the narrative of good and bad political leaders.
“These rigging methods are used before elections … to bring its favorite political parties to power,” Ejaz added. 
Tahir Malik, an assistant professor of International Politics at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), attributed the recurring problem of election irregularities to a lack of consensus among stake-holders including civilian politicians, the absence of an independent election commission, and the model of “political exclusion” in which the military establishment created favorable conditions for its favored candidates and parties. 
“That exclusion takes place through the law as well as the process, for instance the [university] graduation condition [for candidates] was introduced [by Musharraf ahead of 2002 elections] and then there were disqualifications [of politicians by the election commission or the courts],” he said.
Election riggings, or accusations of it, overshadow Pakistan’s next election also.
Sarwar Bari, National Coordinator at the not-for profit Pattan Development Organization, said the 2024 election was peculiar in a number of ways and one was the “very transparent” nature of the manipulation and intimidation, referring to the crackdown against the PTI and dozens of legal cases against Khan and three jail sentences of three, ten and fourteen years each in three separate cases. 
“In the past, it used to be very subtle,” he told Arab News. “But this is unprecedented, at this level, so intense and widespread rigging, Pakistan’s establishment has broken its record.”
He cited the example of the election regulator’s move to strip Khan’s PTI of its unifying election symbol of the bat, which not only forced hundreds of its candidates to contest polls as independents each with their own symbol, but will also deprive the party of reserved seats for women and minorities, which are allocated on the basis of the number of general seats won by a party in an election. 
In Pakistan, election symbols appear on ballot papers, with voters able to put a stamp on their symbol of choice. The ballot paper also has names, but over 40 percent of Pakistan’s 241 million population are illiterate, making the pictures extra important for recognition.
With so many different symbols for PTI-backed independent candidates, Bari said, a large number of people, especially women and rural constituents, would not be able to correctly identify their favorite candidate on the ballot paper. Furthermore, he added, what did it say about the fairness of the election when hundreds of PTI candidates were forced underground at the time of the submission of nomination papers in December and as the party’s top leadership remained behind bars, facing hundreds of cases.
“I have been saying that this election is neither free nor fair,” Bari added, “but it is an absolutely transparent election because whatever is happening is happening in the clear light of day.”
RADICAL REFORM
But what is the solution to election manipulation? 
Under Pakistan’s electoral system, people elect a bicameral legislature, with the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, directly elected by the masses, while members of the upper house, the Senate, are chosen by elected provincial legislators.
“I think there is one way of minimizing corrupt practices and that is switching to a proportional representation (PR) system, instead of having this system which Pakistan has,” Pattan’s Bari said, referring to an electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body and all votes cast contribute to the result. 
The system produces a mixed, balanced representation, its proponents say. 
“So, you can introduce the PR system which will eliminate the attraction or incentives to constituency-based politicians to rig elections and that system can also deter to some extent the establishment from interfering because it will become difficult.”
Bari said under the current system, a party could win an election just by one vote.
“In the PR system you can’t win an election by one vote, or by 10 votes or by 200 votes, you can have more seats and the seats will be proportionately distributed according to the popular vote,” Bari explained.
In the last elections in 2018, he said, 48 National Assembly members were elected with less 5,000 votes
“So, 48 is a big number out of 272 [directly contested seats in National Assembly],” he said. “The PR system in my view is likely to eliminate at least a dozen means of rigging and this will also de-incentivize the control of electables because then the seats will be divided in each district according to the proportional votes each party gets.”
Ejaz the analyst recommended reducing the number of constituencies so that candidates had to campaign in entire districts, which would help break their hegemony on the basis of caste and communities that dominate constituencies.
Malik from (NUML) said “independent” institutions were the key to resolving the permanent pattern of rigging and manipulation:
“To ensure free and fair elections, we need independent institutions, an independent election commission, independent judiciary, vibrant media, rule of law, and genuine political parties,” he said, “who will not strike deals with power corridors.”


Pakistan vows to eliminate ‘terrorism’ as railway station attacks kills 24 in southwest

Pakistan vows to eliminate ‘terrorism’ as railway station attacks kills 24 in southwest
Updated 13 sec ago
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Pakistan vows to eliminate ‘terrorism’ as railway station attacks kills 24 in southwest

Pakistan vows to eliminate ‘terrorism’ as railway station attacks kills 24 in southwest
  • Bomb blast at Quetta Railway Station on Saturday killed at least 24, injured 50 in southwestern city
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi calls for unity to battle fresh “wave” of militancy in the country

QUETTA: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi this week resolved to eliminate the fresh surge in “terrorism” in the country after a bomb blast claimed by a separatist outfit in the country’s southwest killed at least 24 people on Saturday. 
Officials said at least 24 people were killed and 50 injured on Saturday when a bomb blast struck a railway station in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta. 
The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group, the most prominent of militant groups in Balochistan, took responsibility for the attack, the deadliest since a string of coordinated attacks on Aug. 25-26 in which more than 50 people, civilians and security officials, were killed.
In a statement shared with the media, the BLA said its suicide unit, the Majeed Brigade, had carried out the bombing to target a “Pakistani army unit” returning via train after completing a course at an infantry school. The claim has not yet been confirmed by the Pakistani military.
“We must battle this terrorism together. Apart from the Balochistan government and the federation, the people of Pakistan have to fight against it too,” Naqvi told reporters in Quetta at a news conference with Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti by his side. 
“And you will see, god willing as the chief minister said, we will eliminate this wave of terrorism.”

Passengers’ belongings are seen scattered on the platform after an explosion at a railway station in Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

The Pakistani minister reiterated that the federal government is standing by the Balochistan government and was providing full support to battle militancy in the country. 
Later Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir, Naqvi, Bugti and the governor of Balochistan attended funeral prayers for those who were killed in the Quetta Railway Station attack, the military’s media wing said. 
Senior provincial ministers and a large number of military and civilian officials also took part in the funeral prayers at the Quetta Garrison before the deceased were laid to rest, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. 

People mourn the death of their relatives outside a hospital following a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

“COAS [chief of army staff] highlighted that terrorism will never be tolerated and reaffirmed the nation’s resolve and commitment toward eradicating the menace,” the ISPR said. 
“COAS emphasized that this mission will be pursued with full national resolve and collective determination.”
Munir stressed that the fight against “terrorism” requires the support of all Pakistanis, along with the efforts of the military and civil institutions, to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for the country, the ISPR said. 
MILITANCY IN BALOCHISTAN
Balochistan is a resource-rich but impoverished province where separatist militants have been fighting a decades-long insurgency to win secession of the region. Insurgents say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s mineral and gas wealth by the federation at the center.

Blast victims get treatment in a hospital following an explosion at a railway station in Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

The Pakistani government and military deny they are exploiting Balochistan and have long maintained that neighbors such as India, Afghanistan and Iran foment trouble in the remote province and support and fund the insurgency there to impede its development potential. Balochistan is home to major China-led investment projects such as a strategic port and a gold and copper mine.
The rise of separatist attacks in Balochistan poses a major challenge for the weak coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which is battling an economic crisis and political instability as well as a rise in militant violence by both religiously motivated and separatist groups across the country.

People mourn the death of their relatives in a hospital following a bomb blast at a railway station in Quetta, in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, on November 9, 2024. (AFP)

Balochistan is also in the grips of civil rights protests by young ethnic Baloch who are calling for an end to what they describe as a pattern of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses by security forces, who deny the charge.


Saudi embassy inaugurates Kingdom’s pavilion at 10-day cultural show in Pakistani capital

Saudi embassy inaugurates Kingdom’s pavilion at 10-day cultural show in Pakistani capital
Updated 10 November 2024
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Saudi embassy inaugurates Kingdom’s pavilion at 10-day cultural show in Pakistani capital

Saudi embassy inaugurates Kingdom’s pavilion at 10-day cultural show in Pakistani capital
  • Annual Lok Mela festival, which began in Islamabad this week, will continue till Nov. 17
  • More than 500 artisans from across Pakistan are showcasing their skills at the festival

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Pakistan has inaugurated the Kingdom’s pavilion at a 10-day cultural show in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, which aims to promote national unity, folk heritage, and the culture and traditions of Pakistan’s various provinces and regions.
The annual Lok Mela festival began on November 8 and will continue till November 17, according to the Pakistan National Museum director and focal person of the 2024 fest, Anwaar-ul-Haq.
More than 500 artisans from across Pakistan are showcasing their skills at the festival, while many diplomatic missions, including those of Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Turkiye and Indonesia, are also presenting their cultures and arts at Lok Mela.
“The embassy also inaugurated its pavilion at the fair, which will highlight the special culture of the Kingdom during the fair,” the Saudi embassy said on Twitter.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as a top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Saudi Arabia has also often come to Pakistan’s aid in the past, regularly providing it oil on deferred payments and offering direct financial support to help stabilize its economy and shore up forex reserves.


UAE consul-general in Karachi releases green turtle hatchlings into Arabian Sea

UAE consul-general in Karachi releases green turtle hatchlings into Arabian Sea
Updated 09 November 2024
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UAE consul-general in Karachi releases green turtle hatchlings into Arabian Sea

UAE consul-general in Karachi releases green turtle hatchlings into Arabian Sea
  • The babies were released during a ceremony to spread awareness about preservation of the endangered species
  • Increasing construction, noise, pollution and exhaust fumes in the port city have greatly threatened green turtles

KARACHI: United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consul-General Dr. Bakheet Ateeq Al-Remeithi on Friday released green turtle hatchlings into the Arabian Sea off the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, in a bid to spread awareness about their preservation
The endangered green turtles come to shore to lay eggs on beaches in Karachi and on uninhabited islands in the neighboring Balochistan province, however, increasing construction, noise and pollution and exhaust fumes in the port city have greatly threatened the species.
The provincial wildlife department of the Sindh province, which Karachi is a part of, on Friday arranged a ceremony to release these endangered hatchlings into the Arabian Sea, which was attended by the UAE consul-general and young school students.
“The departure of green turtle babies into the sea was a sight to behold. Pakistan’s beaches are rich in natural beauty, but some steps are necessary,” he told reporters.
“Visitors coming for recreation here must dispose of plastic shopping bags responsibly instead of throwing them away. These shopping bags are destroying the environment of green turtles.”
Female green turtles visit the coastal areas of Karachi for breeding from mid-August till mid-February every year, according to the Sindh wildlife department.
So far, 450 green turtles, up to one or two days old, have been released into the sea this season.


Thousands rally in Pakistan’s northwest to press for release of ex-PM Imran Khan

Thousands rally in Pakistan’s northwest to press for release of ex-PM Imran Khan
Updated 09 November 2024
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Thousands rally in Pakistan’s northwest to press for release of ex-PM Imran Khan

Thousands rally in Pakistan’s northwest to press for release of ex-PM Imran Khan
  • Khan’s party has lately held several rallies to demand his release as well as to oppose recent controversial legislations and constitutional changes
  • The party says its protests are meant to ensure the rule of constitution, democratic rights and independence of judiciary in the South Asian country

PESHAWAR: Thousands of supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan on Saturday gathered in the northwestern Pakistani town of Swabi to demand the release of the former premier, amid a campaign by his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party to get him out of prison and oppose recent “controversial” constitutional changes in the country.
Cavalcades of Khan supporters made their way to Swabi from various parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where Khan’s PTI party rules, and elsewhere in the country.
The PTI has held several rallies in Pakistan in recent months to mount pressure on authorities to get the ex-premier, who has been in jail since August last year on a slew of charges, out of prison.
The rally was attended by several PTI leaders, including KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Qaisar and PTI chairman Gohar Khan.
“Even if our lives are gone, we will take a sigh only when Imran Khan is released,” Gandapur told the attendees in Swabi. “Imran Khan has ordered that he is going to call us in the month of November. We will not return until we get Imran Khan released.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party supporters attend a rally in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on November 9, 2024. (Photo courtesy: X/@PTIOfficial)

PTI Chairman Gohar promised to continue their struggle for the release of Khan.
“We believe in the rule of law and according to the constitution of Pakistan, the change will come from within Pakistan,” he said, denying that his party sought support from the West for Khan’s release.
“Hopefully, the release of Imran Khan will be made possible from here [Swabi], according to the constitution and law of Pakistan.”
Khan, arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, was ousted from office after a parliamentary no-trust vote in April 2022 and has since waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the country’s powerful military and the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government, which Khan’s party says rigged the Feb. 8 general election and formed a government with the backing of the army. Both deny the charge.
The PTI has recently held a number of public gatherings, some without permission from authorities, for Khan’s release as well as to oppose controversial legislations and constitutional changes that extended the tenure of military services chiefs and granted lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.
The opposition and the legal fraternity have also opposed the amendments, arguing that they were aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.
Gohar announced at the rally that the PTI and its ally in the National Assembly, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party, would file a petition against the controversial amendments in the Supreme Court.


48th case of polio reported this year amid deepening Pakistan virus crisis

48th case of polio reported this year amid deepening Pakistan virus crisis
Updated 09 November 2024
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48th case of polio reported this year amid deepening Pakistan virus crisis

48th case of polio reported this year amid deepening Pakistan virus crisis
  • The wild poliovirus type-1 was detected in a male child in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
  • This year, 23 cases have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in KP and one each in Punjab and Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday reported another case of polio virus that took the nationwide count to 48 this year, the country’s polio program said.
The regional laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in a male child from Dera Ismail Khan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Dera Ismail Khan is among the polio-endemic districts in southern KP and this is the third polio case from the district this year, according to the Pakistan polio program.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the child is under process,” the polio program said in a statement.
So far, 23 cases have been reported in Balochistan, 13 in Sindh, 10 in KP and one each in Punjab and the federal capital of Islamabad.
“The oral polio vaccine is essential to keep children protected from disability from a polio infection,” the statement read.
“We urge parents across the country to ensure multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine for all children under five in their care and ensure that their routine vaccination doses are also complete.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic. Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of cases and increased spread of poliovirus, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding three years.