The fateful Election Day is a mere 3 days away and as anticipated several covertly asked questions are coming into light. Given the history of Pakistan’s general elections, people have raised major concerns about how the impartiality and transparency of the elections will be contained.
Though several people claim that foreign powers will not influence the elections in any way, there are some who believe they will intervene in an uncomfortable way. To further explore the latter, the US has expressed their concerns about Lashkar-e-Taiba’s representatives taking part in the elections. To ensure their concern is heard, they have notified their respective department located in the capital of the country, Islamabad.
LeT is one of the largest and a vigorous terrorist organization responsible for several attacks in Kashmir led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
To pacify their concerns, the state department reiterated that the election commission had gone so far as to denounce the representatives of Milli Muslim League because of their affiliation with LeT. To further answer their concerns, the US and EU forces were also informed that MML was added into the formal accounts as a designated body by LeT.
Earlier this year, the US State Department even asked for a confirmation of elections despite the recent attacks made on targeted politicians within Pakistan. However, the foreign power of the European Union (EU) specified the importance of ensuring the candidates are kept safe. In keeping with this trend, the forces in Japan expressed their hope to witness fair and just elections in Pakistan.
They also voiced a strong concern over possible terrorist attacks likely to take over Pakistan and wished a safe and easy election month to the country.
The above three, however, collectively stated that all terrorist attacks aimed at disrupting the peace of the country at such a pressing time only speaks of their spinelessness. It also takes the focus away from the basic rights Pakistanis possess. The Union countries and the United States have communicated dire concerns to the state department in Islamabad to ensure safe electoral campaigns and elections.
Moreover, Dawn conducted a survey as well regarding the impact of global forces on elections. The aim was perhaps to see how the various stances mentioned above play into election results come July 25.
Only around 13% of the respondents seemed to think that the global powers will have a ‘big impact’, while around 38% believe that they will have little or ‘no impact’. So, it appears that the public won’t be swayed in making decisions regarding their allegiances. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the leaders and politicians won’t have to take into consideration the grievances of global powers like the US in any future policies they pursue.
