- Pakistan’s national polls were marred by restrictions on mobile data, Internet services as millions across the country voted
- US State Department official says Washington will continue to stress on importance of democratic institutions, free press
ISLAMABAD: The US Department of State said on Thursday it was “concerned” about Pakistan’s restrictions on mobile and Internet services on polling day, as millions of Pakistanis headed to polling booths across the country to vote during the country’s general elections. Arab News Reported
Pakistani authorities decided to suspend mobile data services across the country minutes before voting began Thursday morning. The move was seen by many as an effort to keep opposition voters from getting information or coordinating activities. However, Pakistan’s interior ministry said it opted for the blockade to ensure the security of polling stations after at least 28 people were killed in two explosions near election offices in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Wednesday. As of 3:00 a.m., mobile phone services remained suspended across the country even after polling had ended at 5:00 p.m.
Vedant Patel, the US State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, said during a media briefing that Washington condemned election violence that impacted polling stations, election officers and Pakistan’s election regulator.
“And as you heard me say earlier in the week, we are concerned about the restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression,” Patel said. We’re tracking reports of restrictions on Internet and cell phone access across Pakistan on polling day.”
He said the US, along with the international community, will continue to stress the importance of democratic institutions, a free press, a vibrant civil society, and “expanded opportunities for political participation of all of Pakistan’s citizens.”
When asked to comment on concerns of rigging, especially against former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, the US official declined to comment on preliminary election results and media reports.
“I am not going to get ahead of any official results, and so I’m not going to comment or speculate further on what a government could look like, what the makeup could be or anything like that,” he added.
Khan, arguably the central pole of Pakistani politics, was missing from Thursday’s elections, as he has been in jail since August last year and is also disqualified from running for public office for ten years. The former premier was convicted in three back-to-back cases this month and faces dozens of other legal challenges, including one case in which he is accused of ordering violent attacks on military installations on May 9, 2023, which could entail the death sentence. Khan says all the cases are politically motivated to sideline him and his party from elections.
In the run-up to the polls, Khan’s PTI complained of a widening crackdown against the party, including not being allowed to campaign freely, and analysts questioned the legitimacy of an election that Khan, the main opposition leader and arguably the country’s most popular politician, was not allowed to contest.