Pakistan's ECP changed voting map to favor Nawaz Sharif: Report
What's the story
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reportedly been accused of manipulating the voting map through a controversial delimitation exercise in an attempt to benefit former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the upcoming general elections.
This comes amid growing concerns about the fairness of the upcoming polls and claims of pre-poll rigging by Sharif's party in connivance with the ECP.
According to The Guardian, a record 1,300 objections have been filed nationwide over the commission's proposed changes to constituencies.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The general election in Pakistan is set to be held in February 2024.
Sharif led the pre-election campaign for his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), after returning last month from a four-year self-imposed exile in London.
The leading opposition—the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)—is facing trouble as its chief Imran Khan is in jail over several cases and remained banned from running for office.
Notably, the National Assembly of Pakistan was dissolved in August, and Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar was appointed acting PM.
Details
Delimitation process marred by controversies, ECP received 1,300 objections
Pakistan's delimitation, or the process of adjusting constituency borders, followed a contentious census. In response, the ECP reportedly received 1,300 objections over the exercise.
Over 80% of these petitions reportedly accuse the delimitation committee of favoring specific individuals, groups, and parties, fueling doubts over the elections, per The Guardian.
The monitoring group, Free and Fair Election Network, also expressed serious concerns over the preliminary delimitations. It alleged that over one-fifth of the proposed constituencies didn't comply with voter number regulations.
What next?
Allegations of political engineering to benefit Sharif's PML-N
Politicians and opposition party members claimed the election commission was redrawing the map to undermine the support of Khan's party, the PTI.
Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also expressed doubts over the ECP's moves.
Its leader Nadeem Afzal Chan asked, "What is the point of changing the demography of constituencies?"
"It is...political engineering to benefit Sharif's PML-N," he said. "We can't have free elections with such massive pre-poll rigging and such demarcations of the constituencies."
Insights
PTI accuses caretaker government of pre-poll rigging
In addition, PTI leaders accused the caretaker government—allegedly controlled by the Pakistani military—of pre-poll rigging by preventing them from holding political rallies.
They alleged that several of its workers and party leaders had been abducted for months and allegedly forced to leave the party.
The party accused the election commission of using the delimitation exercise to target Khan's stronghold region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Facts
Final decisions on the delimitation process on Thursday
A senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center think tank in the United States, Michael Kugelman, said that if the proposed delimitation goes ahead, it would create electoral disadvantages for those going up against PML-N, an indirect pre-election rigging.
However, a spokesperson for ECP stated the commission was hearing the appeals through an open court and had done the preliminary delimitation as per law.
Notably, the final decisions on the delimitation process will be announced on Thursday.
Imran Khan
Know about Khan's ouster, trial
Khan was supposedly brought to power with the help of the Pakistan army in 2018. Similar claims of vote-rigging were leveled against his election.
His relationship with the military establishment deteriorated after he publicly lambasted key military commanders, accusing them of plotting to murder him. He was deposed in 2022 and imprisoned in August.
Khan is currently facing almost 200 legal cases, and the present caretaker administration has surprisingly decided to hold Khan's trial behind closed doors in jail.