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Pakistanis call this a “choice” rather than an election. Human rights watchdogs condemned it as neither free nor fair.
Pakistan’s powerful military influence and political chaos were on full display as voters headed to the polls on Thursday. Few doubted which party would come out on top, reflecting the generals’ ultimate control over Pakistan’s chaotic democracy.
But the military faces new challenges to its authority from a disgruntled public, making this one of the most difficult moments in the country’s history.
Tensions were further accentuated on Thursday when Pakistan’s interior ministry announced it would suspend mobile phone services across the country due to the security situation. Some Pakistani analysts see this as an effort to prevent opposition voters from obtaining information or coordinating their activities.
The election took place in the shadow of a months-long military campaign to dismantle the party of former prime minister Imran Khan, a former international cricket star and populist leader who has fallen out with generals. , expelled by Congress in 2022.
The crackdown is the latest dizzying turn in the country’s roller coaster politics.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), the party of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is expected to claim victory in Thursday’s vote. Mr. Sharif himself lost support for the military and was ousted in 2017, but Mr. Khan became prime minister a year later with military support.
Although it is Mr. Khan who currently sits in prison after a bitter rift with the military over political control, Mr. Sharif is clearly seen as the only person who can rival Mr. Khan, who is widely popular in Pakistan. It seems so. Clan chief.
Voters choose members of state and national parliaments, and parliament appoints the next prime minister. It is considered unlikely that any one party will win an outright majority, and the party with the largest share of seats will form a coalition government. Officially, this is the third democratic transition between civilian governments in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state with a population of 240 million people.
Since Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the military has ruled Pakistan either directly through various coups or indirectly under civilian governments. The military has often intervened in election cycles to clear the way for preferred candidates and win fields of competitors. But analysts say the military has taken particularly tough measures ahead of the vote, reflecting growing anti-military fervor at home stoked by Mr. Khan.
The crackdown has drawn widespread condemnation from local and international human rights groups. On Tuesday, the UN’s top human rights body expressed concern about a “pattern of harassment, arrest and long-term detention of leaders.”
“We deplore any act of violence against political parties or candidates and call on authorities to protect the fundamental freedoms necessary for an inclusive and meaningful democratic process,” Liz Trossel, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a press conference. I ask for it.” .
This intimidation campaign comes at a time of particular turmoil in Pakistan. In the months since his ouster, Khan has railed against the country’s generals, accusing them of orchestrating his ouster, a claim they reject. His direct criticism of the military was unprecedented in Pakistan. This prompted his supporters to come out in droves to vent their anger over the military’s role in his ouster.
“Imran Khan is the clearest example of political engineering gone wrong. The military has become a victim of its own technological development,” said Zafarullah Khan, an Islamabad-based analyst. “Civilian-military relations are now being written on the streets. This is unusual in Pakistan.”
When violent protests targeting military installations erupted in May, generals responded with force. Leaders of Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were arrested and ordered to denounce the party. PTI supporters were also cleared by the police. Mr Khan was convicted in four cases and sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison after being banned from contesting elections.
Authorities also allowed Khan’s rival, Sharif, to return home after years in exile. He quickly became a front-runner in the race after a Pakistani court overturned the corruption conviction that led to his ouster in 2017 and revoked his disqualification from running for office.
Analysts said the military was also seeking to ease tensions with Mr Sharif, who has a loyal following in the country’s most populous province of Punjab. Pakistan’s other major political party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), does not have the same national appeal as the PMLN.
Sharif built a reputation for rebuilding the country’s economy, which is currently mired in double-digit inflation, and building megaprojects such as the superhighway. He has also pushed for greater civilian control of the government, and his term has been cut short due to disagreements with the military, raising questions about how long his recent rapprochement with generals will last. ing.
The turmoil revealed the dismal state of Pakistani politics, a winner-take-all game ruled by a small political dynasty and ultimately the military. In the country’s 76-year history, no prime minister has ever completed their term. This election is also the first in decades in which no political party campaigned on the platform of reforming the entrenched system.
“All mainstream parties have accepted the military’s role in politics. There is no challenge,” said Mustafa, a former Pakistan People’s Party senator and vocal critic of the military, who is running as an independent candidate in Islamabad.・Nawaz Khokhar said.
Salman Masood Contributed to a report from Islamabad, Zia Ur Rehman Originally from Lahore.
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