ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission said Monday there will be few relaxed and fair parliamentary elections in the country next month because of “pre-election manipulation. “He also expressed fear that the authorities would reject the candidacies of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and top other members of his party.
At a news conference in Islamabad, the co-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Munizae Jahangir, said other political parties have been subjected to similar tactics to varying degrees.
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“At this point, there is little evidence that the upcoming elections will be free or credible,” Jahangir said.
He said Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, was being “systematically dismembered” and that the rejection of the maximum of its candidates’ candidacies raised questions about the country’s election commission.
People will be allowed to vote for the candidate of their choice on February 8, he added, and there are “fears that the electoral procedure is being manipulated. “
Jahangir condemned the state’s “crackdown” on dissent, saying it has more limited civic discourse at a time when Pakistanis are allowed to freely express their views ahead of upcoming elections.
Farhatullah Babar, a veteran human rights leader, said the decisions of the Election Commission of Khan and other PTI members at the polls amounted to “apparent pre-election fraud. “
He said Pakistan’s caretaker government has a duty to hold relaxed and fair elections and the Election Commission is guilty of providing equal opportunities to all political parties.
Some of the country’s main parties would not settle for the outcome of a rigged election, and a disputed vote would create more political instability, Babar warned.
Khan has recently been in prison serving a three-year sentence for corruption. He also faces a variety of other charges, making it difficult for him to run for office. Even though he knew his candidacies might be rejected, Khan, through his legal team, sought to run for a seat in the National Assembly.
According to election officials, Khan was barred from running because of his conviction.
His disqualification is another blow to the 71-year-old former cricketer, who is the country’s top popular opposition figure. He was removed from office in April 2022 following a no-confidence vote in parliament by his political opponents.
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