Pakistan can’t have fair elections when Opposition party has been criminalised, says US Congresswoman

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar criticised the democratic process in Pakistan on Monday, saying that the country cannot have “free and fair elections when one of the opposition parties has been criminalised.”

“Since my colleagues and I raised our concerns about human rights in Pakistan last November, things have only gotten worse. There can’t be free and fair elections when one of the opposition parties has been criminalised,” Omar said on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Since my colleagues and I raised our concerns about human rights in Pakistan last November, things have only gotten worse. There can’t be free and fair elections when one of the opposition parties has been criminalized.https://t.co/ZG8giXTjVM

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 4, 2024

Her comment comes three days before Pakistan goes to polls. In the run-up to the elections, Pakistan’s judicial bodies had fast-tracked numerous cases against former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and his party members, and sentenced them to several years in jail.

Omar, along with 10 of her Democrat party colleagues had on November 17 written to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, expressing “deep concern” about human rights violations allegations in Pakistan following Khan’s removal from the PM post following a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.

The members of the US House of Representatives had urged Blinken to “conduct a comprehensive review of the Leahy Act and Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961” as they “pertain to US assistance to Pakistan,” according to a copy of the letter made available via media outlet The Intercept. It referred to the desecration of churches and burning of homes of Christians in Pakistan’s Jaranwala in August 2023, the harassment and arrests of political opponents and the arrests of Khan and human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari as examples of violations.

According to the US Department of State website, the term “Leahy law” refers to “two statutory provisions prohibiting the US Government from using funds for assistance to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights.”

The letter called on Blinken to withhold future security assistance until Pakistan had “moved decisively toward the restoration of Constitutional order, including by holding free and fair elections in which all parties are able to participate freely.” It also asked that the US embassy in Islamabad “send observers to hearings and other legal proceedings of human rights defenders and political dissidents, including for emblematic cases such as Imaan Mazari, Khadija Shah, and Imran Khan.”

The letter was also signed by Greg Casar, Cori Bush, André Carson, Joaquin Castro, Lloyd Doggett, Summer Lee, Ted Lieu, Jim McGovern, Frank Pallone, and Dina Titus.

Pakistan goes to polls on February 8, 2024, Thursday.

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