Category Archives: Politics

Pakistan’s Most Rigged Election

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A commentary on Pakistan’s election.
Written by : Farooq Tariq
Shared by :Syed Ehtisham
ON 26th July 2018, in his election victory speech, Imran Khan gave a sober talk contrary to his very violent language used throughout the election campaign. He has “won” 116 seat of the 342 seats National Assembly of which 278 seats are contested directly on First Past The Post (FPTP) system. He is short of the 137 seats needed for the majority in the parliament. However, there are plenty of parliamentarians elected as “independents” who would either join his party or would vote for him.
Demonstrations in several cities are taking place against the post poll rigging. The majority of several dozen candidates has been turned into minority votes overnight by “unknown hands” These unknowns: are known to everyone but if you write with the right name, you may disappear for this crime. Almost all the commercial media is under control by these “unknowns”.
The media is instructed on daily basis by these “unknowns”, all this to get a favorable mandate for their loved one “The great Imran Khan” who once was captain of the most popular game, the cricket, and won a world cup for Pakistan in 1992. Imran Khan is a conservative politician who had developed in recent years his magic love for the army generals and is keeping a kind heart for religious fanatics.
This was the most rigged elections in the history of Pakistan. From Pre poll period until today on 28th July, all efforts are made that Imran Khan gets a simple majority. Prior to the elections, there were consistent attacks on Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, the ruling party, by the judiciary on the name of accountability.
The PMLN has fallen apart from the military and judicial establishment on mainly two issues. The most important was the supremacy of civilians over the military. The second was the relationship with India. PMLN wanted more trade with India and no war.
Mian Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and a right wing politician, has to pay a heavy price for his insistence that as PM, he rules Pakistan and not the army. He was ousted by the Supreme Court, disqualified for life and now serving a ten years sentence along with his daughter at a Rawalpindi jail.
When the dates of the elections was announced, the media portrayed Imran Khan as the cleanest politician with a plan to curtail corruption. His main election slogans were “change” and “a new Pakistan”. Billions of rupees were spent on advertising by his billionaires party men. The richest always smells the changing directions of power and they accordingly change their political affiliations. Most of these are called “electable”, a politician who could spend billions on elections and buy votes. Imran Khan Party, Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (Justice Movement), saw an influx of these “electable” who changed their party from PNLN to PTI without a hint of shame. They always did the same at the election times.
When PMLN gave tickets (nominations) to their probable candidates, phone calls were made by these “unknowns” to those nominated and were asked to return the tickets at the eleventh hour and contest elections as independent. Those who refused were beaten up physically in their offices and homes. Threats and intimidations worked and around 40 of those who were nominated by PMLN returned their tickets and announced to contest as independent.
During the election campaign, several PMLN nominees were arrested and some disqualified for life and sent to jail on pretext of corruption. All these measures gave a general impression that military and judicial establishment want Imran Khan to win the general elections at any cost. Imran Khan has already created a myth among the youth that we need a change and a corruption free government. There was a euphoria among a large section of youth in Pakistan that Imran Khan is not corrupt and that he needs “electable” to win an overall majority.
The two banned outfits of religious fanatics were allowed to contest elections by the Election Commission. The strategy was if the extreme right would contest elections, they will reduce the PMLN votes who were favored by these religious groups in the past. One religious group Tehreek Labaik became the third largest party in terms of fielding candidates all around Pakistan after PTI and PMLN.
Over 300,000 military men were deployed in all the polling stations with a judicial power to military officers on the “request” of the Election Commission to ensure a complete security. This was aided by the religious terrorists who carried out suicidal attacks on public meeting during election campaign killing hundreds including the candidates. In one unfortunate incident, over 150 were killed in Mastung district of Balochistan province including the candidate.
Most of the human rights groups in Pakistan including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) criticized this gross pre poll rigging through press conferences and termed these extra ordinary measures to favor a certain political party.
On the Election Day, the polling went smoothly and military presence was at everywhere. However, the rigging work started after 10 pm, four hours after the counting started. Suddenly most of the results of the constituencies where the difference was between 1000-5000 were stopped. Then, there was an almost blackout of the counting, it remerged early in the morning, those winning elections at night time were losing and PTI candidates were always the winners.
The final results were delayed for over 72 hours, it never happened earlier..
The results showed PTI with 116 seats, PMLN 63 and PPP with 43 seats at the national parliament. PPP under the young leadership of Bilawel Bhutto improved from their previous devastating results of 28 seats. PPP kept control of Sindh assembly with more seats than they held previously, Khaiber Pukhton Khwa saw PTI “land slide”. In Punjab, PMLN kept it majority with a drastic reduction of seats and PTI now vowing to form the government in Punjab also with the help of the elected “independents”.
The two religious fanatic groups who contested got no national assembly seat but one of them Tehreek Labaik got two Sindh assembly seats. They did not do badly. In almost every constituency, they got from 1-10 percent of the votes and in some they got over 20 percent votes. This is quit alarming situation.
The Left contested almost 50 national and provincial seats from all over Pakistan. However, one Wazeer Ali from The Struggle group who is part of Left Democratic Front won a national assembly seat from former federally administered area called FATA. The area is dominated by religious fanatics. However Ali Wazeer comfortable majority of 16000 votes had given a new hope the forces of the Left in Pakistan. Ali Wazeer contested as independent candidate. He was leader of Pashtun Tahafaz Movement which has organized this year mass public rallies across Pakistan for compensation of those victims of “war on terror”.
In my home constituency of Toba Tek Singh, where I contested elections for Punjab Assembly in 2013 elections, AWP candidate Mohammed Zubair came on third position with 4586 votes leaving behind the candidates of the religious fanatic parties and Pakistan People’s Party. I did not take part in the elections as candidate because of health issues, however, campaigned for our candidate with two mass rallies in the constituency.
Almost all political parties except PTI has termed this general election as the most rigged. They have rejected the results. PTI who launched a three year long movement against the rigging during 2013 elections termed this election as the most free and fair in history of Pakistan, the only party to say so.
The new government is in the making. It is quite obvious that Imran Khan will become the new prime minister. This new government will be a weak one and would have to face a severe economic crisis.. The designated finance minister of PTI has already hinted to turn to IMF for a new loan. One of the main issue that PTI campaigned was the massive foreign loans obtained during PMLN five years from China. Now they have no shame to say even before taking over power that they have to turn to IMF.
The government would try to improve the tax base in the initial period and that would bring them into contradiction with strong traders lobby who have no habit of paying taxes. Imran Khan hinted to have friendly relationship with India. This would not be done. With an open support of the army generals, it is out of question that there will be improved relationship between Pakistan and India.
Religious fundamentalism will grow in the next period as Imran Khan has already pledged to “negotiate” with Taliban and he had always a soft attitude towards religious fanatics. He has supported some known Madarasas associated with Taliban with state subsidies while he controlled KP government during 2013-18.
Although the opposition parties have announced agitation against the election results and have demanded fresh elections. However, they might not succeed in launching a successful agitation. Interesting times ahead.
By; Farooq Tariq
farooqtariq@hotmail.com</cpsess5432141179/3rdparty/squirrelmail/src/compose.phpfarooqtariq@hotmail.com>
28th July 2018

“Terrorist Money Laundering, Pakistan & Elections” By F. Sheikh

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 Recently, just before elections, global terrorist money laundering watchdog organization, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Pakistan on its watch list. FATF is a 37-member watchdog organization, and 36 members voted in favor to place Pakistan on the watchdog list. Only Turkey voted against it, and both China and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan’s supposedly staunch allies, voted in favor to place Pakistan on Terrorist Money Laundering Watch list. It shows how bad things are, and how deep Pakistan’s credibility has eroded.  India and USA spearheaded the campaign to place Pakistan on watch list.  Financial Insider writes on its blog;

“Pakistani officials and analysts fear being on the FATF list could endanger Pakistan’s handful of remaining banking links to the outside world, causing real financial pain to the economy.”

In October 2016, Pakistan’s civilian government warned Military establishment that Pakistan will be isolated in the world unless all measures are taken to eradicate terrorism ,including proxy agents, and actions are taken against perpetrators of Mumbai attacks in India. The civilian government told Military that whenever it arrests these perpetrators, ISI works behind the scene to release them.The Military was not happy, and warning was taken as a threat to Military’s core interests. The civilian government faced serious consequences for challenging the Military. In recent elections , Military intervention made sure it does not win the elections.   

The (European Union) EU watchdog  Election Mission in Pakistan, claimed that although overall 2018 elections were credible, but not as credible as 2013 elections. The EU commission noted following alarming findings, as reported by Dawn , which calls into question their own conclusion of credible election;

According to the Mission, “Most interlocutors acknowledged a systematic effort to undermine the former ruling party through cases of corruption, contempt of court and terrorist charges against its leaders and candidates.”

“The elections took place against a background of allegations of interference in the electoral process by the military-led establishment and the role of the judiciary as a political actor,”

 “the electorally sensitive timing, as well as the content of decisions of courts investigating or adjudicating on matters related to high-profile Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) candidates were perceived by several stakeholders as an indication of the politicization of the judiciary.”

Another interesting observation made in the preliminary statement says that security force officials “recorded and transmitted the results, giving the impression of an ongoing parallel tabulation.

The Military’s parallel monitoring of results from polling stations, at least suggests that perhaps backup plan was in place to get the desired results.

After elections it is obvious that PTI will form the next Government of Pakistan. There is reasonable chance that PTI will deliver to a certain degree on internal matters of corruption, health, education, and basic needs. But the sticky matters of Army affairs, terrorism and foreign policy, especially relations with India, are obstacles to any progress as it has doggedly haunted previous civilian governments.

What will happen to immediate matter of being on the terrorist money laundering watch list by FATF? Imran Khan has been called Taliban Khan for his sympathy to Taliban and questioning the need for war against terrorism. PTI government in PK allocated Rs 3 Million in their 2016/2017 budget that was supported by Imran Khan. How Imran Khan will satisfy FATF, against his own beliefs and without stepping on Army’s toes, to prevent further action by FATF of banning international banks and financial institutions to work with Pakistan’s banks? It can cripple Pakistan’s economy. He must keep in mind what happened to previous civilian government when it warned Military about it.

India is emerging economic power and all countries, including China and Middle East, would like to do business with India and accommodate its interests in all matters. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not have much to offer to the rest of the world that can attract their support. Some Western countries are giving token support because they fear economic collapse in a nuclear Pakistan might generate more violent extremism. China’s support is shaky and it alone cannot save Pakistan.

Recent elections will further embolden the military to get desired  results by means other than imposing Martial Law. Military has found a way to have a leash on any civilian leader by bringing Judiciary under its fold.

Even if Imran Khan is sincere and honest, as all his supporters believe, will he make any difference? Most of the analysts think only on the margins, until three major issues are resolved. Number one, good relations with India. Number two, full civilian control on Military. Number three, which is correlated with other two, elimination of all forms of terrorism including proxy actors. More than anybody else, Imran Khan knows that it is impossible to achieve any of these goals, because he was a willing player used by the Military, to create unrest and topple previous civilian government which, despite being corrupt, tried to do exactly that.

Worth reading following supporting links for the article, especially the first link.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1288350

https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/eu_eom_pakistan_2018_-_preliminary_statement_on_25_july_elections.pdf

https://www.dawn.com/news/1423262/eu-mission-praises-conduct-of-election-criticises-pre-poll-environment-uneven-playing-field

https://www.dawn.com/news/1266524

 

 

“America’s Killing List” By Matt Taibbi

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Kareem now had no doubt he was on America’s infamous “Kill List.” Most Americans don’t even know we have such a thing. We do. Officially, it goes by the ghoulish bureaucratic euphemism “Disposition Matrix.”

Seemingly conceived in the Obama years, the lethal list – about which little is known outside a few leaks and court pleadings – appears to sort people into targeting for capture, interrogation, or assassination by drone. It was run by a star-chamber of two-dozen security officials and the president. According to a 2012 New York Times report, they met once a week to decide which targets around the world lived or died.

These meetings became known as “Terror Tuesdays.”

As Obama was preparing to leave office, candidate Donald Trump was promising to jack up the number of bombings in the Middle East. “You have to take out their families,” he said.

It’s one of the few promises he’s fulfilled. Reports vary, but some estimate that Trump has upped the pace of drone attacks by about four or five times the Obama rate, which itself was 10 times the rate of Bush.

We kill suspects whose names we know, and whose names we don’t; we kill the guilty and the not guilty; we kill men, but also women and children; we kill by day and by night; we fire missiles at confirmed visual targets, but also at cellphone numbers we hope belong to targets.

When he first heard he was on this list, Kareem was aghast. This was no situation like the siege of Aleppo, where a quick joke might turn the crowd. How could anyone reverse the decision of a deadly bureaucracy so secret and inaccessible that even if it had an off switch, few in the civilian world would know where to find it? How could he talk his way out of this one?

Kareem appealed for help to Clive Stafford Smith, an Anglo-American attorney he’d met in his travels, who’d founded a London-based human rights organization called Reprieve.

Full story

posted by f.sheikh

 

Appna

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Written by : Syed Mansoor Hussain.
Shared by :Syed Ehtisham
 VIEW: APPNA, Advani and the plaque —Syed Mansoor
 Hussain
 The vast majority of the members of APPNA left
 Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
 had swept the land and are thus entirely
 uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
 victims of the indoctrination they had endured in
Pakistan
 The Association of Pakistani Physicians of North
 America, recently renamed as the Association of
 Pakistani-descent Physicians of North America but
 better known by its whimsical acronym, APPNA, is in a
 state of turmoil. Before going any further I must in
 the interests of full disclosure state that I happen
 to be a life member of this organisation. A little bit
 about APPNA first. The organisation is almost three
 decades old and has the distinction of being the first
 major organisation representing members of the
 Pakistani Diaspora in the US. Today, it has almost two
 thousand dues-paying members, which is an impressive
number for such organisations.
 Over the years, APPNA has evolved and like most of us
 has become an entirely confused desi organisation
 without much direction. However, of the many competing
 purposes that have emerged over the years, three seem
 to take precedence. The first being its fraternal
 function, second being the need for doing good work in
 the home country and third, the need to help its
 members in the professional and social milieu they
> live in. This has often produced considerable tension
> within the organisation requiring an intricate
> balancing act by the leaders that have been elected
> over the years.
>
> APPNA was founded and initially run by people from the
> Punjab, primarily physicians from King Edward Medical
> College (KEMC) in Lahore and their few friends from
> other institutions. Whatever people might wish to say,
> this is even true to a great extent today, as is
> obvious from the fact that of APPNA’s last five
> presidents, only one has been from an institution
> other than KEMC. The Karachi people from Dow and other
> medical colleges, though in a majority, were perhaps
> always too cosmopolitan to become involved in such a
> parochial organisation and most of them went on to
> other bigger and perhaps better things.
> Somewhere along the line, APPNA was discovered by the
> Government of Pakistan; affectionately know as GOP in
> APPNA circles. This first happened in the 1980s when
> the need to do good things for the home country became
> APPNA’s primary self-validating purpose. The previous
> ‘general president’ of Pakistan evidently had a
> particularly soft spot for physicians, especially
> those from the US. And, as the Punjabi doctors met the
> Punjabi general-president, it was love at first sight.
> In those days, the people running APPNA like most
> Pakistani expatriates were consumed by their need to
> return to Pakistan. Frequent trips were subsequently
> made by APPNA delegations and they were treated as
> VIPs on arrival in Pakistan. Grand plans about
> reforming Pakistani healthcare were presented and
> accepted but nothing came of it. Though a single visit
> to Pakistan with an APPNA delegation could get a
> Pakistani American physician a few plots ostensibly to
> build a clinic or hospital, and we all know how
> important plots are for Pakistanis.
> Since that time APPNA’s leaders have been close to
> almost every government of Pakistan or at least those
> that were dominated by Punjabis. The present
> government initially posed a minor problem but that
> was easily overcome. Punjabis, as we well know, love a
> man in uniform. And, the present prime minister
> happens to be one of our own, a real unvarnished
> Pakistani American expat, and a Manhattanite at that!
> Also, the chief of the ruling party is about as
> Punjabi as they get. So, the relationship between
> APPNA and the GOP became close once again.
> After 9/11 when the Pakistani American community was
> in great need of leadership at the local level, the
> leaders found it easier to concentrate on Pakistani
> issues. After all what sane Pakistani-American-Muslim
> would want to take on tough issues like the Patriot
> Act and institutionalised discrimination against
> Muslims? Some desultory attempts were made and are
> still being made by the leadership to offer at least
> lip service to problems facing the Pakistani American
> community. However, when the much bruited peace
> process between India and Pakistan came onto the
> scene, it presented a perfect way out for APPNA
> leaders.
> Always ready for a good time, they decided upon taking
> a large APPNA delegation for a “good will” trip to
> India. For some reason that is still entirely shrouded
> in mystery, during this trip the president of APPNA,
> in a function sponsored and probably paid for by the
> current opposition party in India, decided to give a
> plaque of “appreciation” to the BJP leader, Mr Lal K
> Advani. The man responsible for the destruction of the
> Babri Mosque is obviously not quite a hero for the
> mostly Muslim membership of APPNA. When the news of
> this award to Mr Advani got back to the US, questions
> were raised about the appropriateness of this
> decision, and worse, about the possible role of our
> beloved GOP in this unfortunate action.
> It might be appropriate to mention at this point that
> the vast majority of the members of APPNA left
> Pakistan before the winds of enlightened moderation
> had swept the land and are thus entirely
> uncontaminated by them. They are still very much the
> victims of the indoctrination they had endured as
> young people while in Pakistan and thus tend to think
> of most Indians as devils incarnate.
> The latest leaders of APPNA after coming in frequent
> contact with the latest GOP have however been
> completely transformed. As such the trip to India and
> the plaque was for them a perfect opportunity to
> demonstrate their new found enlightened moderation and
> spread it on to some ordinary members also.
> Unfortunately for the leadership of APPNA, after
> living in the US, most of the ordinary members of the
> organisation have actually started believing in
> bizarre concepts like participatory democracy and
> accountability of elected leaders. An electronic media
> campaign started by some such misguided members
> demanded an explanation from those responsible. There
> were even some calls for resignation. The president
> first tried to defend his actions and then apologised
> for giving out the plaque, using the “mistakes were
> made” formulation. Other members of the leadership and
> organisers of the trip rapidly distanced themselves
> from this entire matter acting as if they knew nothing
> about anything.
> It would now seem that somehow the mysterious plaque
> of appreciation with its unknown message was
> manufactured in the US and then schlepped across three
> continents without anybody, not even the president of
> APPNA finding out about it until “a hidden hand”
> forced him to present it to Mr Advani.