Military deployed as Imran Khan eyes power
VOTERS in Pakistan were set to cast their ballots on Wednesday (25) while the military fanned out across the country as the south Asian nation elects a new prime minister this week.
The contest has largely been distilled to a two-party fight between jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s incumbent Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz party (PML-N), and cricket legend Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Nearly 106 million Pakistanis, including more than 19 million new voters, will choose a successor to the PML-N, which took power in 2013 and hopes for a new mandate under leader Shahbaz Sharif.
A third choice, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – son of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto – could become kingmakers, forming a coalition with the winner.
Armed soldiers watched closely as election officials in the capital Islamabad on Tuesday (24) distributed ballot boxes and voting materials to polling stations across the city.
The military has stationed more than 370,000 personnel nationwide to ensure the vote goes smoothly – the largest such deployment in Pakistan’s history on an election day. It has said the soldiers will work with local law enforcement to ensure “a safe and secure environment” for voting.
An additional 450,000 police were also assigned to provide security, according to election officials.
The mammoth deployment, coupled with a recent decision by election authorities to grant military officers broad powers inside polling centres,
has stirred fears of possible manipulation.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said military officers would be given magisterial powers, effectively making them judge and jury to punish individuals for illegal acts committed inside polling stations.
Last week, Sherry Rehman – opposition leader in the Senate, the parliament’s upper house – said the move could lead to potential conflicts and confusion. Raza Rabbani, another high-profile senator, demanded a clarification from the ECP.
The ECP said last Sunday (22) the presence of troops at polling stations is meant to ensure a “free and fair election”.
“I don’t know why they have given these powers, because that will unnecessarily create doubts in the minds of people,” retired general and security analyst Talat Masood said. “I don’t think these powers have ever been granted.”
Election observers also questioned the move, and said there was rising anxiety over the large military presence at the polls. “A lot of our interlocutors, and I would dare to say most of them, they raise serious concerns regarding the role of the military,” said Dimitra Ioannou, deputy chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission.
Political parties held their final rallies on Monday (23) night – before campaigning was suspended – in a last-ditch attempt to energise voters.
“I am giving this task to all of you: wake up early on the 25th and cast your vote,” Khan told thousands of PTI faithful in Lahore.
In southern Punjab, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif – the brother of Nawaz Sharif – said victory was “certain”. “Despite all the odds, PML-N is winning the July 25 polls,” he was quoted as saying by Pakistani media.
The PML-N has accused the military, the country’s most powerful institution, of manipulating candidates and the media ahead of the vote in a bid to push out the party and install a pliant government, with Khan seen as the likely beneficiary.
Activists and think tanks have also widely decried a “silent coup” by Pakistan’s generals. At a PML-N rally in the military garrison city of Rawalpindi, anger simmered over what participants said was engineering by “the establishment” – referring to the military.
Some vowed to take to the streets if directed by their leaders. “After the election, we will fight,” said PML-N supporter Aftab Anjum, 67. “We are all ready.”
The military – which has ruled the country for roughly half its 70 year history – remains Pakistan’s most powerful institution and has a long history of meddling in politics and judicial affairs – a charge that it denies.
The controversy comes as increasing militant attacks on campaign events in the last month have raised fears that insurgents may target voters.
Three candidates have been killed in attacks at political events this month, including a member of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in a suicide attack last Sunday.
And on Monday, authorities announced an increased death toll – 153 – for an earlier attack on a rally in the town of Mastung in southwestern Balochistan province, making it the second-deadliest terror attack in Pakistan’s history.
Punjab holds the key to power under Pakistan’s first-past-the-post system, with a potential 141 out of 342 seats in the National Assembly, 272 of which are directly-elected.
The stand-off between Sharif and the military peaked earlier this month, when he was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for corruption.
One week later, he returned to Pakistan from London, where his wife is receiving cancer treatment, and was promptly imprisoned. Analysts say the PML-N’s fate rests on his ability to frame himself as the victim of a military conspiracy.
He is not alone in his accusations against the generals. Major media outlets and activists have increasingly complained of kidnappings and intimidation in recent months.
There have been allegations of censoring coverage of certain topics and parties ahead of the election, they say. The PML-N appears to be the main focus, though Bhutto has also complained his campaign is being hampered.
There is a widespread belief that the generals prefer a weak civilian government who will not seek to rebalance the power between it and the security establishment. “The military is clearly trying to create a new generation of leadership,” says security analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.
Khan is seen as the beneficiary of that favour, allowed to move freely around Pakistan and proclaim his ambition to build an “Islamic welfare state”. His chances of running the country are considered the best since entering politics two decades ago.
Polls show PTI’s popularity climbing, while Sharif’s incumbent PML-N party limps into the contest. Khan has cut a relaxed image on the campaign trail, looking confident of his chances.
The three times-married 65-year-old cuts a rather conservative persona as a devout Muslim, often carrying prayer beads and nurturing beliefs in living saints.
Earlier this year, he married his spiritual advisor Bushra Maneka, with wedding photos showing the new bride clad in a conservative veil.
To his legions of fans, he is uncorrupted and generous, spending his years off the pitch building hospitals and a university.
“We want change because the current system is corrupt, and we are going to have to face many difficulties,” said PTI supporter Jamil Ahmed.
Khan entered Pakistan’s politics in 1996 promising to fight graft. For his first decade and a half as a politician he sputtered, with PTI never securing more than a few seats in the national assembly.
“Sports teaches you that life is not in a straight line,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “You take the knocks. You learn from your mistakes.”
In 2012 PTI’s popularity surged with hordes of young Pakistanis who grew up idolising Khan as a cricket icon reaching voting age.
Khan admits his party was ill-prepared to capitalise on the gains during the 2013 election. But that was then. “For the first time, we’ll be going into elections prepared,” he has said previously of 2018.
Five years later PTI is running a nationwide campaign including areas far from its northwestern and urban strongholds.
To shore up its chances of winning, PTI has begun luring candidates away from Sharif’s party, stirring controversy among long-time party loyalists who say Khan is relying on the same corrupt politicians he once denounced.
However, some fear Khan’s mercurial nature is unsuited to being prime minister. He has raised eyebrows by increasingly catering to religious hardliners, particularly over the hugely inflammatory charge of blasphemy, spurring fears his leadership could embolden extremists.
“It’s hard to judge anyone when they’re in opposition because the real challenge is when you take over,” said journalist Arifa Noor. “On the downside he’s playing up the religion card.”
Khan has also been attacked for his repeated calls to hold talks with militants and for his party’s alliance with Sami ul Haq, the so-called Father of the Taliban whose madrassas once educated Taliban stalwarts Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani.
And earlier this month, the al Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Mujahideen announced their support for Khan’s party, with pictures of the US-designated terrorist group’s leader posing with PTI hopefuls posted online.
Still, many, including Khan, believe this is the best political opportunity he will ever have.
“After the 25th of July, God willing we will reunite this divided nation,” he said during a rally in Lahore days before the polls. “And end the hatred.”
Whatever the result, Pakistan faces pressing challenges. One of the most acute is the economy, with analysts warning the next government has little time to avert a balance-of-payments crisis, likely requesting Pakistan’s second IMF loan in five years.
It will also have to tackle one of the fastest population booms in Asia, negating economic and developmental gains, particularly alarming when combined with the threat of absolute water scarcity as soon as 2025.
Security has improved dramatically since a military crackdown. But analysts have long warned of Pakistan’s failure to address the root causes of extremism. Militants still carry out spectacular attacks.
To gain a majority, a party needs 137 of the 272 elected National Assembly seats. A further 70 seats for women and minorities are awarded proportionally based on the voting percentages.
In 2013, the PML-N won 126 seats, while Khan’s party came third with 28 seats. After the results, 27 winning independent candidates joined Sharif’s party to give it a majority.
The election results will be updated on the official Pakistan election website www.ecp.gov.pk. (Agencies)
