Elections Without Imran Khan’s Participation
ISLAMABAD: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) strongly rebuked Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar’s recent statements, where he suggested that fair elections could be conducted without the participation of senior leaders from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including party chairman Imran Khan.
The HRCP issued a strongly-worded statement characterizing Kakar’s remarks as “anti-democratic and ill-judged.”
During an interview, the caretaker prime minister stated that fair elections without Imran Khan’s participation could occur or hundreds of his party members who faced imprisonment for unlawful activities, including vandalism and arson.
He referred to the violence that occurred following the former prime minister’s initial arrest in May in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
However, the interim PM also mentioned that those in Imran’s party who didn’t engage in unlawful activities “will be running the political process and participating in the elections.” Observers quickly noted that this approach seemed to align with the “minus-one formula,” which involves removing a party leader while encouraging others to seize power.
Kakar’s comments coincided with the period when authorities had incarcerated Imran Khan, the PTI Chairperson, and several other PTI leaders after the May 9 riots over graft allegations.
The HRCP, an independent human rights watchdog, criticized Kakar’s claims, emphasizing that the courts had not established the guilt of these leaders in their respective cases.
Furthermore, the HRCP firmly stated that it was not within the prime minister’s or his government’s authority to unilaterally determine what constitutes a “fair” election.
The HRCP asserted in its statement that the systematic dismantling of PTI leadership, including mass arrests, rearrests, forced disassociation from the party, numerous legal cases against political leaders and workers (including military court proceedings), and restrictions on their freedom of expression and assembly, had not created a level playing field.
