Unprecedented scale
of farce Parliamentary Elections in Pakistan
The general
elections and politically motivated terror attacks have been interlinked to each other whenever
the parliamentary polls held in Pakistan. However, this time around, the terror
related violence is just tip of the iceberg of the coercive measures that candidates
and more particularly the mainstream opposition party of jailed popular leader
Imran Khan has been going through.
The target of
terror attacks has been on political rallies. Many have been killed and injured
during last couple of weeks, something the mainstream Opposition party--- Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaaf or the PTI of Imran
Khan, suspects, are designed to create large
scale fear among people so that they
stay indoor on February 8 ,2024 when the Parliamentary elections take place.
“Why are
you spilling the blood of people. If you
want to delay the elections, find something other justification” said Rehan
Zain Khan, who was PTI affiliated candidate in Bajur region near Afghan border
until last week. Rehan was assassinated
days after his statement casting suspicions on the military and military run
secret services for building up a secret nexus with militant groups to target
political parties opposing to army’s political agenda. His assassination
followed laying a siege of a local military installations by thousands of
people chanting slogans against the army for assassinating him. They attempted
to storm the army run building.
The low
turnout have traditionally helped military run secret services and elections
supervisors to rigg poll in favour of
blue eyed parties of powerful army which has repeatedly overthrown elected
governments in Pakistan over the years. There appears to be an undeclared
military takeover in Pakistan with army virtually controlling every wheel of
power behind the scene which is in defiance of country’s legal and
constitutional framework. The military together with pro-West political parties
have allegedly been delaying the holding of general elections fearing the return
of PTI in power. The PTI is perceived to be now anti-military and anti US over
its stance to pursue an independent foreign policy. Pakistan is a major
non-NATO ally of the US.
There have
been of what appears to be desperate draconian measures by the police, military
and military run intelligence outfits to create compelling conditions to ensure
that the most popular political party of the most popular political charismatic figure-- the former
jailed Prime Minister Imran Khan does not win parliamentary elections. Khan has
been barred to contest parliamentary elections after a trial court sentenced
him for 10 years on treason charges for making public a diplomatic cable which
admittedly revealed on how the US warned Islamabad to face consequences if Khan
was not removed from power in early March 2022. The US warning followed the
then Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow on a day when Russian
President Vladimir Puttin launched a war against neighboring Ukraine. So was his
blunt refusal to the US in late 2021 to
provide military bases in Pakistan to carry out attacks in Afghanistan where
Afghan Taliban returned to power in August 2021 forcing the NATO led US forces
to exit from the region in a humiliating manner after almost 20 years military
presence.
Khan’s
government was removed from power through a no confidence motion in the
Parliament in April 2022 after the military backed the then Opposition parties
behind the scene to force his MPs and allies to change their loyalties. Khan
and his party blamed the US embassy in Islamabad to have influenced his MPs to
change their loyalties in closed door secret meetings.
Imran has been
facing prosecution in nearly 200 politically motivated cases. The trial courts
allegedly under the influence of the military, have handed him 10 to 14 years
imprisonment on what appears to be flimsy legal grounds two cases. The very
motive of punishing Khan days before elections is to create unfavourable
political conditions for his party to win the elections.
After removal
from power, military run secret services have allegedly forced dozens of senior
members of his party to desert his party and those not doing so, were detained,
tortured and their female family members were undressed. And even in many instances,
their houses were stormed and bulldozed and their children were kidnapped to
compel them to ditch jailed leader who by all public surveys, is the most
popular political figure.
Khan cashed-in politically on rising anti-US
sentiments and anti-army outrage for pursuing the US agenda and its overgrown
role to make and break governments in Pakistan over the course of decades.
Khan’s PTI was disfranchised by country’s top court allegedly in league with
the military Generals on flimsy legal grounds that it did not hold internal
party elections in an appropriate manner which legal experts believe was
violation of country’s constitution. Now PTI affiliated new leaders are
contesting elections as independents. Nonetheless the military, compromised
senior judges and Election Commission fear that Khan’s party can still win back
the elections given his overwhelming public support.
Many of the
journalists were illegally detained and in one of the case a prominent
journalist Arshad Sharif was killed allegedly by the military run secret
services after he made public army’s illegal role in overthrowing the
government of Khan in league with the US.
More than 65
percent of Pakistan’s population is youth whose overwhelming number support
Imran Khan and daringly oppose the military’s playing its controversial role in
depriving the most popular political force to win the general elections.
Pakistan seems
to be headed for a mass unrest, the indicators of which now meaningfully begins
to surface ahead of the most disputed general elections. The
fear, looms large that Pakistan may undergo another period of political
uncertainty and economic turmoil given of what appears to be army’s relentless efforts to disallow Khan’s
party to peacefully participate in the general elections like other political
parties. Khan has repeatedly dubbed the military Generals as traitors for
dislodging his government in collusion with the US. Washington has repeatedly
denied allegations. However, the diplomatic cable which Pakistan’s top diplomat
wrote to its government reveals that the US was involved in hatching a
conspiracy to remove Khan’s government and now supports the military in its
illegal and inhuman measures to disallow the PTI to win the elections.
Expresso’s
Special Correspondent in Islamabad
Email:javedjournalist@gmail.com
0 Comments