Elections viewed as flawed

After three years of military rule, Pakistan's national elections last week, which produced a hung parliament, are being described by both domestic and international observers as flawed. "This general election does not represent the people's will to shape their political future," Afrasiab Khattak, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) that independently observed the process, told IRIN. "Keeping in view the pre-poll manipulation, harassment and intimidation of the opponents of the military regime, and the complaints of rigging on election day, this is a confident conclusion," he said. Although no political party won a clear majority in the national legislature to form a government, Muttahida Majlis-e Amal (MMA), a coalition of right-wing, hardline Islamic parties secured a stunning victory to at least form its provincial governments in Balochistan in the south and the North West Frontier Province - both bordering on Afghanistan. Khattak predicted that the election result would lead to renewed instability and political polarisation. "By almost pushing the mainstream political parties out of the political arena, the regime created a dangerous vacuum that was filled by religious extremists," he said. In its interim report on the 10 October elections, the HRCP declared the process to be lacking in both fairness and transparency. The report also expressed serious concerns over the allegations of post-poll manipulations, such as seizures of polling stations, misuse of ballots and identity cards, flaws in polling schemes and other irregularities. Similarly, in a preliminary report, election observers for the EU said the Pakistani authorities' interference with the electoral arrangements and democratic process had resulted in serious flaws in the electoral process. Apart from citing many failures on the part of Pakistan's election commission to ensure free and fair polls, the report also noted the constitutional changes under the controversial Legal Framework Order. The new arrangements would weaken the legislatures and possibly concentrate powers in the hands of the president, who could thereby dismiss elected governments. Moreover, the new system would institutionalise the role of the military in the governance of the country through the National Security Council, which could subject civilian governments to military control. "Both these reports are broadly correct," a senior journalist and independent analyst, Najam Sethi, told IRIN from the eastern city of Lahore, adding, however, that now that the elections were over, the task ahead was the formation of a new government. "Whether there is going to be a national government or there is going to be a government dominated by one political faction with very strong opposition is [yet] to be seen," he said. Sethi noted that the electoral victory of the conservative MMA might create tensions for the US-Islamabad joint operations against the remnants of Taliban and Al-Qaeda along border areas where the MMA had swept the polls. "The central government has to be careful," he said. But government officials on Monday dismissed all accounts of irregularities as untrue. "The elections on 10 October reflect the will of the people," Ghazni Khan, the director of public relations with the election commission, told IRIN. "The Election Commission of Pakistan acted with complete neutrality, independence and fairness throughout the election process."