UNPO Denounces Violent Climate

At Landmark Pakistani Elections

Saturday 11 May 2013

 Pakistan

15 May 2013, Brussels – The first elections held under the obligations of the 2010-ratified UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), marked a milestone for democracy in the world’s second largest Muslim country in the world, an event qualified as “critical to achieving peace and prosperity” by US president Obama. PML-N Nawaz Sharif is set to become Prime Minister for an unprecedented third time (122 seats out of 237). 53,7 million Pakistanis (approximately 62% of registered voters) came out to vote at the 69,729 stations across Pakistan, a high number considering the volatile climate of violence marring the election campaign.

In fact, since April, 1st 2013 and before Election Day, Pakistan has witnessed over 60 attacks targeting electoral candidates.  More than 100 dead and 400 injured were accounted for, mainly from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP) in the provinces of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, making it the bloodiest elections the country has seen. Pakistan's Election Commission has declared some 21,000 polling stations across the country "sensitive" because of likely acts of terrorism on May 11. On Election Day alone, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) censed 62 reported election related security incidents causing 64 deaths and 225 injured. However, most of voters who cast their ballots last Saturday 11 May 2013 were located in the Punjab province (56.9% of registered voters) where the pre-electoral environment was generally vibrant with a lively campaign period. In provinces such as the resource-rich Balochistan and turbulent FATA where the EU EOM decided not to travel, secular parties have been forced to abandon mass rallies in the face of violence and have run muted, door-to-door campaigns. In FATA, elections were cancelled in one constituency for security reasons.  Furthermore, in Balochistan where the Baloch people face a long history of enforced disappearances perpetrated by Pakistani intelligence agencies, emotional blackmailing has been used against voters by promising them the return of their loved ones if they boycotted the elections. At least two polling stations in the province remained open until late at night under the supervision of Frontier Corps allowing voters to cast their ballots illegally. Hence, demonstrations, supported by BNP-M are taking place in Balochistan to protest against vote rigging. Also, many questions over the transparency of elections in Karachi and the rest of Sindh were raised as delays in polling, kidnapping and harassment of polling staff and snatching of ballot boxes were experienced.

UNPO denounces the poor participation and unfair conditions in which the elections were held in Balochistan and FATA mainly due to repeated acts of violence targeting both Islamist and secular parties. However, the internal situation of law and order and the security of its citizens has become the most dominant factor of Pakistani daily life and is not specific to the electoral campaign. Human rights violations in Balochistan are unfortunately common pushing Baloch parties to run “not for elections but to win the war”. In fact, the Baloch were not only targeted on ethnicity grounds but also for participating in the elections.