ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has predicted that the upcoming general elections will be the dirtiest, most micromanaged and most intensively participated polls in the country’s history, a local media report has stated.
HRCP spokesperson I A Rehman at a news conference held a few hours after his meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) Monday said that the commission had received complaints which were against the spirit of elections.
He said that the Commission had doubts over whether the elections will be free and fair because candidates were pressurised to return tickets and because of the use of military troops inside polling stations. The issue was presented to the CEC who assured that officials will not go inside election booths.
Rehman said that recently the Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ political agent had called a meeting of tribal elites on the general elections and told them what was in the interest of the country.
“In 2013 some political parties were targeted and ‘favoured ones’ were not targeted by terrorists — the same is the situation again. Registration of cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act against political workers is condemnable,” he said.
Rehman said that some of his questions were addressed during the meeting with the CEC.
HRCP council member Advocate Hina Jilani said that a number of incidents of violence had taken place over the past few days and suggested that the ECP should use the military to ensure peace during election campaigns.
Jilani said hate speeches were being delivered. One political party’s advertisement is trying to portray that a personality has a connection with a neighbouring country.
Marvi Sirmed, another HRCP council member, said that it was unfortunate that banned organisations were being allowed to take part in the elections and no one was ready to take the responsibility.
According to a statement shared during the press conference, the HRCP has serious reservations over the extraordinary powers accorded to security forces — ostensibly to ensure the integrity of the polls. That some 350,000 security personnel are to be deployed outside as well as inside polling stations, and that military functionaries have been assigned magistrate’s powers on the premises, has blurred the line between civilian and non-civilian responsibility for the electoral process.
The HRCP is deeply concerned that the political class is being selectively squeezed. This is apparent from reports that members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are being pressurised to switch political loyalties, that candidates are being asked to return their tickets, and that electoral opposition to two mainstream parties — the PML-N in Punjab and the Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh — is being ‘manufactured’ in strategic areas.
The HRCP is also worried over the recent curbs on the print and broadcast media — specifically, the numerous instances in which journalists perceived as favouring the PML-N or PPP or deemed critical of the security establishment have been subject to censorship, intimidation, harassment and abduction.
Such pressures on the media serve to manipulate public opinion, forestall critical debate and leave powerful institutions unaccountable to the public.