A US Congressional committee discusses the recent elections in Pakistan, following concerns raised by more than two dozen US lawmakers regarding the fairness of the polls. The hearing, titled as “Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship”. Committee is hearing the allegations of vote rigging that marred the elections. Pakistan’s Former PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has claimed that the new government was formed by unlawfully taking its mandate.
Donald Lu, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, said President Joe Biden’s administration identified a series of “irregularities” in the conduct of the February 8 elections as he emphasised the importance of ties between Washington and Islamabad.
A subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the US House of Representatives is holding a hearing on the “future of democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan relationship” on Wednesday. The hearing was announced last week after more than 30 members of Congress wrote to Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, asking them not to recognise Pakistan’s new government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The February 8 elections were marred by widespread allegations of electoral manipulation, unusually delayed results and rigging.
The State Department had voiced concerns over the elections at the time, but Pakistan has consistently denied the allegations. After criticism from the West, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 10 said it was surprised by the reactions, which failed to “acknowledge the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis”.
During a press briefing on Thursday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller responded to a question, saying that any number of State Department officials testify all the time before Congress. “We see it as an important part of our jobs to help Congress do its job, both from a policymaking perspective and from an oversight perspective,” said Miller.
The spokesperson said that the State Department always looks forward to both the informal and formal conversations with Congress and the actual testimony officials provide. The hearing comes after political parties in Pakistan including PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) alleged that the elections held on February 8 were rigged with the Imran Khan-founded claiming that their mandate was stolen.
Since the February 8 polls, PTI has been protesting and holding demonstrations to reclaim their mandate from the now-ruling government. The results of the election were surprising as not a single party secured a majority to form a government and at least 90 independent candidates supported by the PTI won the elections. They later joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to claim the seats reserved for female candidates and minorities. When asked about Lu’s alleged involvement in the cipher controversy and his security concerns, Miller said that the accusations against him are “false”.
“They’ve always been false. You’ve heard me say that more than once, more than twice, more than ten times probably,” he said, adding that the State Department takes threats towards US officials seriously and condemn any effort to threaten the safety and security of the diplomats.
