ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party on Tuesday brushed aside allegations of “pre-poll rigging” in its favor, calling on rivals to win the upcoming general elections through the public’s support.
Pakistan’s election regulator announced last week that polls in the country would be held on Feb. 8 after it held consultations with President Arif Alvi. The PML-N’s rival parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have leveled accusations that Sharif is being facilitated by the state’s machinery ahead of elections.
Both parties have complained that they are not being provided a “level-playing field” to contest elections after Sharif was granted protective bail last month. The former three-time prime minister arrived in Pakistan on Oct. 21 after living in self-imposed exile for almost four years in London.
“Our party is fully ready for elections while our rivals are trying to hide behind lame excuses like the level playing field, seeing the lack of their public popularity,” Azma Zahid Bokhari, information secretary of the PML-N’s Punjab chapter, told Arab News on Tuesday.
She said the PML-N was focused on mobilizing the masses instead of indulging in foul play.
“Everybody knows the PML-N is the most popular party in Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif is going to be elected the next prime minister for the fourth time,” she said.
Bokhari rubbished allegations her party was being supported by the caretaker administrations in Punjab and the center.
“The PPP has no candidates to field in Punjab but dares to accuse us [the PML-N] of being supported by the state machinery,” she said.
On Tuesday, the PML-N and the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) announced they would contest the upcoming elections together.
Bokhari said the PML-N was trying to forge alliances with other parties in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
“We are way ahead of all other parties in terms of public support and votes, especially in Punjab province,” she said.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Information Minister Murtaza Solangi did not respond to queries on what measures they were taking to ensure a level-playing field for political parties.
Former prime minister Imran Khan, who leads the PTI, has been in jail over what he says are “bogus” cases intentionally designed to keep him out of the coming elections. Khan has been in jail since August after he was convicted of corruption in a case involving the sale of state gifts. He is currently charged with leaking the contents of a secret document.
PTI’s Barrister Gohar Khan lamented the arrest of the party’s senior leader Asad Qaiser last week in Islamabad. On Sunday, police raided a convention organized by the party in the northwestern city of Mansehra.
“Our leaders and workers are still being arrested even after the announcement of the election date just to keep us out of the election race,” Khan told Arab News. “PTI is not being allowed to hold workers’ conventions, let alone big public gatherings.”
He hoped the apex court would intervene to stop what he said was the police’s “high-handedness” against PTI supporters.
“Voters across Pakistan are with us and our party will win the majority in the polls despite the rigging in the PML-N’s favor,” he claimed.
Syed Hassan Murtaza, a senior PPP leader, supported Khan’s demand for the government to release its party’s leaders and supporters.
“The PML-N is trying to create an impression in the public that it is winning the election to form the government, though the reality is totally different,” he told Arab News.
“Pre-poll rigging is already underway in favor of the PML-N, therefore the Feb. 8 election is no more a transparent election,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F) party has voiced concerns over a surge in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“We have shared a proposal with the election commission to delay elections till the security situation and weather improves,” Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, a senior JUI-F leader, told Arab News, adding that the freezing cold in Pakistan’s northwestern areas would make it difficult for parties to campaign.
