Daily Times

Former prime minister Imran Khan’s party is being targeted by “systematic dismemberment” and “pre-poll rigging”, a rights watchdog said Tuesday, casting doubt on the fairness of upcoming elections.

Nomination papers for Khan and the majority of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party candidates have been rejected by the electoral commission, according to PTI, shutting them out of the February 8 ballot.

“The nature of the rejections seems systematic,” Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) official Farhatullah Babar told AFP. “The way scores of nomination papers were rejected is brazen and the reasons given for the rejections were very flimsy,” he said, adding there was “no room for doubt that pre-poll rigging is taking place”. Khan, 71, has been in prison since August and is facing trial in a slew of cases he says have been orchestrated to prevent him from contesting the election as the figurehead of his party. The Electoral Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected his nomination because he had been disqualified from holding office over a graft conviction last year. But the HRCP said it had documented “harassment” of other PTI candidates attempting to put their names down for the poll.

“After the election takes place there may be a lack of acceptance regarding its fairness” and the new government may not be recognised as “legitimate” by the public, Babar warned. “This situation could intensify the existing political uncertainty and, ultimately, contribute to a further erosion of human rights.” Khan — a hugely popular former international cricketer — was ousted by a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.

After Khan’s brief detention in May sparked unrest, PTI has been the subject of a widespread crackdown, with leading figures either jailed or forced to leave the party. Babar said “the state is perpetrating the same tactics which were employed in 2018’s elections”, which were also marred by allegations of tampering — that time favouring Khan. ECP is due to announce the final list of contesting candidates in three weeks.