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Tucked away in a patch of dry grass on the outskirts of Islamabad, the rally didn’t look like a political rally in the height of election season. About two dozen men sat in silence on plastic chairs. There were no posters to promote the campaign, no microphones to give speeches, and no sound system to pump up the crowd.
Even candidate Aamir Mughal was missing. He went into hiding several months ago at the first signs of a military-led crackdown on his own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Authorities had already searched his home. His two sons were arrested and sued in connection with the anti-military demonstrations.
“They are pressuring us to quit the party and quit politics,” Mughal said in an interview from a safe house where he was staying before attending rallies this weekend. “It’s all part of an effort to weaken and eliminate the party.”
As Pakistan heads to the polls on Thursday, the powerful military will use a familiar strategy to turn its old enemy to its side and crush the PTI in its first national election since its leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, clashed with generals. He’s pushing for a blow. Expelled by Congress in 2022.
Candidates say PTI candidates have been detained and forced to denounce the party. Candidates, their relatives, and human rights monitors say their relatives have been arrested in an attempt to intimidate them and their homes have been ransacked. Authorities blocked other PTI candidates from campaigning, censored media coverage of the party, and used internet blackouts to block live-streamed speeches by PTI leaders. Hundreds of PTI supporters have also been captured and detained in the dragnets.
Khan, who has been in prison since August, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets and 14 years in prison for a separate corruption case. On Saturday, Mr Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to an additional seven years in prison for violating the law in their marriage.
Military interference in Pakistan’s elections is nothing new (Mr. Khan himself was a beneficiary in 2018), but this time the repression was more pronounced than in previous years, and this vote marked the beginning of Pakistan’s 76-year history. This makes it one of the least reliable polls of all time, analysts say.
“This election has even less legitimacy than the 2018 election,” said Zaigham Khan, a political analyst and columnist based in the capital, Islamabad. “And if there is no legitimacy in the elected government, there can be no hope for political or economic stability.”
In Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state of 240 million people, dissatisfaction with the iron rule of its generals has boiled over in recent months, and the military has stepped up to the plate as it faces a particularly turbulent period. There is.
For most of Pakistan’s existence, the military has either ruled the country directly or exerted significant influence over the civilian government. Khan accused his generals of orchestrating the move when he was ousted in a dispute over military leadership. At a rally attended by thousands of supporters, Mr. Khan insulted these generals by name. In a country where people had previously expressed their grievances only in code, calling the military the “regime” was an unprecedented direct criticism.
A viral video produced by Mr. Khan’s party has fueled discontent with the military among a large group of young supporters who are coming to terms for the first time with what the general’s position means for the eternal quest for sustainable politics. Ta. When Khan was arrested in May, hundreds of demonstrators attacked military installations in a scene that was once unimaginable.
In the months since then, analysts say the military has sought to reassert control and make clear that its involvement in politics is permanent.
Government officials denied illegally interfering in the election to sideline the PTI and defended the arrests of PTI members and leaders as a necessary response to violent protests in May.
“The party appears to be playing the victim card to cover up the criminal activities of some of its leaders, seeing that defeat is imminent,” said Interim Information Minister Murtaza Solangi. “The law has taken its course,” he added.
Most election observers predict a victory for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), which lost support to the military in 2017, but this time around. In the election, it was found that they were gaining support again. .
The crackdown has made this perhaps Pakistan’s quietest election in decades. Streets normally crowded with political rallies remained deserted. For weeks, many people were convinced that the election would not even take place on the scheduled date. Analysts said the military aimed to demoralize and confuse PTI supporters to prevent them from voting.
“PTI voters are unlikely to turn out to vote. They already know the outcome of the election and feel it is predetermined,” said Mohammad Waseem, a political science professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Last month, Mr Khan’s party was banned from using the iconic cricket bat symbol, a nod to his sporting stature, to represent its candidates on the ballot paper. This was a fatal blow to the party in a country where about 40 percent of the population is illiterate and where voters rely on symbols to identify candidates.
PTI candidates have also effectively lost their ability to campaign. Permits to hold public meetings have been revoked or refused outright, according to documents seen by campaigners and the New York Times. Employees say printing companies have been told not to produce PTI posters. Anything that can be printed will disappear immediately.
To shore up support, PTI candidates are campaigning behind the scenes in small, closed-door meetings. On Monday night, dozens of PTI supporters gathered in a dilapidated apartment building on the outskirts of the eastern city of Lahore to hear speeches from PTI candidates.
The men came in droves from the unlit street and climbed three concrete stairs using cellphone flashlights to reach the rooftop. His green and red PTI flag was hoisted above the railing.
“In these difficult times, we will go door to door to spread Imran Khan’s message,” candidate Wasim Qadir told the audience. “We know you all support us.” He said the party’s cricket bat icon is banned, so while another candidate used the medallion symbol He reminded voters that they will be represented by the turnstiles.
Kadir had received permission from authorities for the first time since he began campaigning and was scheduled to hold a rally earlier in the day. But that morning, four unmarked vehicles arrived at the campaign headquarters, and security officials arrested one of the drivers and seized the sound system, the campaign chief said. The message was informal but clear. Gatherings were not allowed.
The crackdown on PTI supporters extends to parts of Pakistani society that were once safe from military harassment. Women were arrested in large numbers in connection with violent protests against the military in May. Even Pakistan’s elite, which traditionally had close ties to the military, were wiped out.
In Lahore, the sprawling metropolis and capital of Punjab province, the arrest in May of the granddaughter of a former army chief sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of Pakistani society. His granddaughter, Khadija Shah, a prominent PTI supporter, has been charged with terrorism, sedition and rioting.
Shah denies involvement in any illegal activity and was granted bail last month after seven months in custody. Many believe her military was using her to convey her warning to the rest of the country’s elite. Gone are the days when they were beyond the reach of the military.
This intimidation campaign even involves people who claim not to support the PTI. In October, Islamabad-based podcaster Imran Noshad Khan was arrested after posting a podcast criticizing the military. He was detained for three days. He is charged with sedition.
“It has a chilling effect,” Kahn says. He added that the message was: “Don’t give a platform to people who criticize the establishment’s role in politics.”
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