{"id":19009,"date":"2024-02-08T08:14:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T13:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/pakistan-votes-in-an-election-widely-seen-as-predetermined\/08\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-08T08:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T13:14:14","slug":"pakistan-votes-in-an-election-widely-seen-as-predetermined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/pakistan-votes-in-an-election-widely-seen-as-predetermined\/08\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Votes in an Election Widely Seen as Predetermined"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Pakistanis have labeled it a \u201cselection\u201d \u2014 not an election. Human rights monitors have condemned it as neither free nor fair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As voters headed to the polls on Thursday, the influence of Pakistan\u2019s powerful military and the turbulent state of its politics were on full display. Few doubted which party would come out on top, a reflection of the generals\u2019 ultimate hold on Pakistan\u2019s troubled democracy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the military is facing new challenges to its authority from a discontented public, making this an especially fraught moment in the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The tension was underlined on Thursday as Pakistan\u2019s Interior Ministry announced that it was suspending mobile phone service across the country because of the security situation. Some analysts in Pakistan cast it as an effort to keep opposition voters from getting information or coordinating activities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The election was taking place in the shadow of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/04\/world\/asia\/pakistan-election-imran-khan.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">a monthslong military campaign<\/a> to gut the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former international cricket star and populist leader who was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/02\/world\/asia\/imran-khan-pakistan-no-confidence.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">ousted by Parliament<\/a> in 2022 after falling out with the generals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The crackdown is the latest dizzying swerve in the country\u2019s roller-coaster politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or P.M.L.N., the party of the three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is expected to claim victory in Thursday\u2019s vote. Mr. Sharif himself was ousted when he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/12\/24\/world\/asia\/pakistan-nawaz-sharif-sentenced.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">fell out of favor<\/a> with the military in 2017, and Mr. Khan, with the military\u2019s support, became prime minister a year later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now it is Mr. Khan who is sitting in jail after a bitter split with the military over its political control, while Mr. Sharif is apparently seen by the generals as the lone figure in Pakistan having the stature to compete with the widely popular Mr. Khan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Voters will choose members of provincial legislatures and the country\u2019s Parliament, which will appoint the next prime minister. It is seen as unlikely that any party will win an outright majority, meaning that the party with the largest share of seats would form a coalition government. Officially, this will be only the third democratic transition between civilian governments in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 240 million people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Thursday afternoon outside a polling station in Lahore\u2019s Gawalmandi neighborhood, supporters of Mr. Khan\u2019s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or P.T.I., chatted as voters made their way through the winding alleyways of the old city and men smoked cigarettes on the balconies above.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The men complained that the mobile service outage had blocked them from using a P.T.I.-sponsored app to help them find their local polling station. The ballots were also particularly confusing, they said. While other parties use a single symbol to represent all their candidates, the authorities issued an individual symbol for every P.T.I. candidate \u2014 a move analysts said was designed to confound P.T.I. supporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt was confusing even for me. There were so many symbols, it was hard to find the right one,\u201d said Abdul Rashid, 60, a goldsmith, noting that he was literate, unlike many others in the country who need the ballot symbols to be able to identify their chosen party.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Earlier that morning, the police had threatened to arrest P.T.I. officials as they set up a booth near the polling station to provide information on candidates, according to one official, Muhammad Rafiq Gujjar, 52. The police also forced Mr. Gujjar to cover up all the photos of Mr. Khan at the booth, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The military has ruled Pakistan directly through various coups or indirectly under civilian governments ever since the country gained independence in 1947. It has often meddled in election cycles to pave the way for its preferred candidates and to winnow the field of their competitors. But the military has used an especially heavy hand ahead of this vote, analysts say, a reflection of the growing anti-military fervor in the country stoked by Mr. Khan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The crackdown has drawn widespread condemnation from local and international human rights groups. On Tuesday, the United Nations\u2019 top human rights body expressed concern over \u201cthe pattern of harassment, arrests and prolonged detentions of leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe deplore all acts of violence against political parties and candidates, and urge the authorities to uphold the fundamental freedoms necessary for an inclusive and meaningful democratic process,\u201d Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said at a news conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The intimidation campaign has come at a particularly turbulent moment in Pakistan. For months after Mr. Khan was removed from office, he railed against the country\u2019s generals and accused them of orchestrating his ouster \u2014 a claim they reject. His direct criticism of the military was unheard-of in Pakistan. It inspired his supporters to come out in droves to vent their anger at the military for its role in his removal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cImran Khan is a clearest case of political engineering gone wrong; the army became the victim of its own engineering,\u201d said Zafarullah Khan, an Islamabad-based analyst. \u201cNow civil-military relations are being written on the streets. This is unique in Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/10\/world\/asia\/pakistan-military-protests.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">violent protests broke out in<\/a> May targeting military installations, the generals responded in force. Leaders of Mr. Khan\u2019s party, P.T.I., were arrested and ordered to denounce the party. P.T.I. supporters were also swept up by the police. Mr. Khan was sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison after being convicted in four cases and barred from running in the election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The authorities also allowed Mr. Khan\u2019s rival Mr. Sharif, who had been living in exile for years, to return to the country. He quickly became a front-runner in the race after Pakistani courts overturned the corruption convictions that led to his ouster in 2017 and reversed his disqualification from competing in elections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The military also sought a d\u00e9tente with Mr. Sharif, who has a loyal base of supporters in the country\u2019s most populous province, Punjab, analysts say. The other major political party in Pakistan, the Pakistan People\u2019s Party, or P.P.P., does not have nearly the same national appeal as P.M.L.N.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Lahore\u2019s Jain Mandir neighborhood, P.M.L.N. supporters gathered outside a tent that party leaders had set up to help supporters identify their polling station. Bright green and yellow banners with photos of Mr. Sharif and other party candidates hung over the crowd. Under the shade of the tarp, men took I.D. cards and handed voters a slip with their polling station and names of their local candidates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Abdul Karim Butt, 75, sat in a chair, with green P.M.L.N. stickers and a golden pin of a tiger \u2014 the party\u2019s symbol \u2014 decorating his brown scarf. Mr. Butt said he had supported Mr. Sharif since his first term in office, when he began to build a reputation in Punjab for reviving the economy and improving the province\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe work he did in Lahore no one else has done in history. He widened the roads, built many bridges. He changed the entire map of Lahore,\u201d Mr. Butt said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Sharif has also pushed for more civilian control of the government and had each of his terms cut short after falling out with the military \u2014 a history that raises doubts about how long this latest rapprochement with the generals will last.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While a P.M.L.N. victory appears certain, there are still some lingering questions about how the vote will play out. Some analysts believe that the military will not allow Mr. Sharif to become prime minister, given his contentious history with the generals. The military may instead seek to elevate his brother, former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is much more deferential to the army but less popular with the public.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is also possible that despite the crackdown, P.T.I. voters will come out in large numbers on Thursday, raising the possibility that the military could tamper with the vote count, the analysts said. If the military did so, that could spark protests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The turmoil has laid out the dismal state of Pakistani politics, a winner-take-all game dominated by a handful of political dynasties and ultimately controlled by the military. In the country\u2019s 76-year history, no prime minister has ever completed a term in office. This election is also the first in decades in which no party has campaigned on a platform of reforming that entrenched system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAll mainstream political parties have accepted the military\u2019s role in politics; there is no challenge,\u201d said Mustafa Nawaz Kokhar, a former senator with the Pakistan People\u2019s Party and a vocal critic of the military, who is running in the election as an independent candidate in Islamabad.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Salman Masood<!-- --> contributed reporting from Islamabad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/08\/world\/asia\/election-pakistan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistanis have labeled it a &ldquo;selection&rdquo; &mdash; not an election. Human rights monitors have condemned it as neither free nor fair. As<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/pakistan-votes-in-an-election-widely-seen-as-predetermined\/08\/02\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}