The issue of the election date once again landed in the Supreme Court as a petition was filed in the apex court on Saturday seeking contempt proceedings against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and senators involved in passing a resolution that called for a delay in the polls - slated for February 8 this year.

The petition was filed by lawyer Ishtiaque Ahmed Mirza soon after the Senate Secretariat asked the country’s top electoral authority to immediately change the election schedule.

It is pertinent to mention that the Senate secretary wrote a letter to the ECP a day after the Upper House of Parliament passed a resolution calling for a delay in general elections, sources said.

They added that a copy of the resolution has been sent to the president, interim prime minister, the Election Commission of Pakistan, law ministry, and other departments concerned.

The non-binding resolution was adopted by the Senate on Friday. It called for the February 8 polls to be delayed, however, an interim minister and parties across the political spectrum rejected it.

“I was not empowered by the federal cabinet to support the resolution. The government is standing behind the Election Commission of holding elections on February 8,” caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi told Shaukat Piracha on his show Rubaroo on Friday.

The resolution, moved by Senator Dilawar Khan from KP, was approved with a majority vote. It argued that the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not suitable for holding elections.

Senator Mushtaq moves resolution calling for timely elections

Earlier today, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan moved a fresh resolution calling for elections to be held as per schedule.

The resolution stated that it was the responsibility of the ECP and the caretaker government to hold timely elections.

It went on to add that the recently passed resolution calling for a delay in the polls is “undemocratic and unconstitutional”.

Political parties reject resolution calling for delay in elections

The Senate resolution, seeking a delay in the elections, was rejected by leaders of almost all political parties as they called for holding elections on the date announced by the ECP.

“A resolution of 14 senators based on their personal opinions, has no legal or binding force in the constitutional process of holding general elections,” PTI’s Barrister Gohar Khan said in a post.

Elections will be held on Feb 8 even if UN passes resolution: Bilawal

Earlier today, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the polls will be held as per schedule even if the United Nations (UN) or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) passed a resolution against it.

The ECP has issued a schedule for the polls on February 8 and the polls will be held on the same date, he said during a press conference in Lahore on Saturday.

Marriyum Aurangzeb claims PTI behind Senate resolution

PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed that PTI was behind the resolution under a well-thought-out plan.

“Elections will be on February 8 [even if] other parties cry or shout,” she said while talking to media outside a court in Lahore.

Aurangzeb went on to add that her party was the only one that opposed the resolution.

A day earlier at a press conference, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman clarified that the party wanted timely elections.

“Senator Tangi has informed the party that he had opposed the resolution,” she said, “but still, we would look into things like video clips and other evidence to assess the factual situation. If his stance is not found to be satisfactory, then definitely we would seek an explanation from him.”

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi has denied the release of any written content from Adiala jail where PTI founder Imran Khan is incarcerated.

“Our initial response on the matter is to write to them [The Economist] to regret that they tarnished their image by publishing such scandalous content. Additionally, we will ask them that how they got the content from a man who has been convicted and remains in jail,” he told Shaukat Piracha on Rubaroo on Friday.

According to Solangi, government investigations revealed that no such article has came out of the prison facility. However, he said that it was not established who exactly wrote the piece.

In an apparent jibe at PTI over its narrative regarding the US, he said that the PTI could not decide whether to fight the US or seek their help.

“They [PTI] hired lobbing firms in the US and contacted several congressmen to tell them that they are not against the US. They also cannot decided if the conspiracy against them was exported from the US or it was hatched in Pakistan,” he said while responding to a question regarding the discussion in State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller’s press briefing.

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On resolution approved in the Senate, he said that he was not given opportunity to speak in the house despite asking the Senate chairman twice to be allowed to speak on the resolution.

“I was not empowered by the federal cabinet to support the resolution. The government is standing behind the Election Commission of holding elections on February 8,” he added.

Although the concerns raised by the Senators were real, however, the caretaker government was not empowered to delay elections, he added.

“Only ECP has the authority to give date of election or extend it under Article 218(3) of the Constitution. No other institution including the administration has the authority to do it,” he added.

Solangi denied having evidence that the resolution was presented by the Senators to conspire against timely elections, saying “I will give them benefit of doubt that they honestly believed the issues were present which they pointed out.”

The caretaker government on Friday announced to write to top British daily The Economist that published an opinion piece written by former prime minister Imran Khan.

“Today, we are writing to the Editor of @TheEconomist about an article purportedly written by Mr. Imran Khan. It is puzzling and disconcerting that such an esteemed media outlet published an article in the name of an individual who is in jail and has been convicted,” caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi wrote in a post on X.

Khan wrote the piece for the British magazine “by invitation” where he spoke about the February 8 general elections and the economic situation.

“Whether elections happen or not, the manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for PTI,” he wrote. The piece was uploaded to the website on January 4.

Calling it critically essential to uphold ethical standards and promote responsible journalism, Solangi said that the government like to know how the editorial decision was made, and what considerations were taken into account regarding the legitimacy and credibility of the content written by the PTI founding member who is incarcerated in Adiala jail.

“We would also be interested to know if @TheEconomist has ever published such ghost articles by jailed politicians ever from any other part of the world,” the minister added.

According to Solangi, jailed convicts would always use the opportunity to air their grievances if they were free to write to the media.

While elections are scheduled to be held next month in Pakistan, human rights organisations have been expressing concerns about the lack of a level playing field granted to certain political parties.

Earlie today, the Senate of Pakistan passed a resolution calling for a delay in general elections scheduled for February 8.

The resolution, moved by Senator Dilawar Khan from KP, argued that the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not suitable for holding elections.

The resolution, apoproved with a majority vote, added that the elections should be delayed until the security situation improves.

The Senate of Pakistan passed a resolution calling for a delay in general elections scheduled for February 8 on Friday.

The resolution, moved by Senator Dilawar Khan from KP, was approved with a majority vote.

It argued that the law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not suitable for holding elections. It added that the elections should be delayed until the security situation improves.

The resolution referred to the recent terror attacks in the country, including those targeting JUI-F leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman and National Democratic Movement leader Mohsin Dawar.

The resolution also claimed that the increasing number of coronavirus cases was also a cause of concern, though shortly before the resolution was moved the health minister told the House that no case of Covid-19’s JN.1 strain was detected in the country.

The resolution added that the current schedule for elections should be suspended and a new schedule should be issued when a more favourable situation was created in the country.

Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Beheramnd Tangi also supported the resolution adding that things were not suitable for elections in KP and Balochistan.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s Senator Afnanullah Khan opposed the resolution saying his party was not in favour of a delay in elections. He added that many people were hopeful that elections would be delayed, but they must take place as they were a constitutional requirement.

The resolution was then passed by a majority of the senators present in the house. The swift approval of the motion surprised many both inside and outside Parliament. Reports said that the house was mostly empty and only 13-14 members were present at the time.

Also, read this

Imran Khan writes opinion piece ‘by invitation’ in lead British daily

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Only Afnanullah voted against the resolution while many in the house abstained from giving an opinion.

Dilawar Khan was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as an independent candidate on a technocrat seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Senate election in March 2018.

Resolution passed for the second time

As the clamour of the resolution’s passing was heard, more members hurried into the house. Also among the new entrants were three caretaker ministers Jalil Abbas Jilani, Murtaza Solangi and Jamal Shah.

The resolution was therefore tabled and passed again. However, Solangi voted against the election delay.

When State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about the right of Pakistani people to choose their government, he went on to make a curious slip of the tongue.

Asked by journalist Ryan Grim if election rigging in Pakistan could lead to sanctions during a press briefing, Miller said that the US would continue to support democratic ‘suppression’ in Pakistan.

“And we will continue to support democratic suppression and a vibrant democracy in Pakistan, but I don’t have anything to preview from here,” Miller can be heard saying in a video of the exchange.

However, when the journalist tried to ask a follow-up question, Miller quickly corrected himself and said, “I said expression.”

“Expression. Expression. I’m not going to let you trick me into correcting myself unnecessarily again. Expression,” Miller said.

The original exchange was edited to say ‘expression’ in the official transcript uploaded on the State Department’s website as well.

Earlier in the press briefing, Miller said it was up to the Pakistani people to decide who they wanted to elect to office.

“We want to see free and fair elections which are conducted in accordance with Pakistan’s laws, and we don’t support one candidate or party over another in Pakistan or anywhere else in the world,” he said.

When asked about the arrests of candidates and approvers, Miller replied that elections in Pakistan have to be conducted as per Pakistan’s laws.

“It’s not for the United States to dictate to Pakistan how it conducts – the exact specifics of how it conducts its election,” he added.

The PML-N has deprived many of its top leaders, including Ayaz Sadiq, of party tickets for the National Assembly seats in Lahore, sources said on Thursday.

They added that the N-league has short-listed names for the award of tickets for 12 out of 14 constituencies of the National Assembly in the Punjab capital while Naseer Bhatta and Waheed Alam Khan have failed to convince the party.

Pakistan is scheduled to hold elections on February 8. With the highest number of seats in the lower house of Parliament, Punjab is considered a decider in the country’s politics. The winner from the province has an edge over forming the federal government.

The PML-N has decided to not award party tickets to former NA speaker Sadiq, Rana Mashhood, Marghoob Ahmad, and Rana Mubashir. But it was expected that Sadiq would be offered a ticket in the Senate or any by-election.

Sources added that the PML-N could not decide on a name between Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party President Aleem Khan and the party’s Malik Riaz in NA 117 as the two parties purportedly seek seat adjustment.

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would need the support of former PTI leaders Jahangir Khan Tareen and Pervez Khattak to become prime minister for the fourth time in his life, analyst Hamid Mir said in November last year.

“If you [PML-N] have to make a government ever and Nawaz has to become the PM, it will be with the help of Tareen and Khattak,” he said in an interview with Shaukat Piracha on his show Rubaroo which was aired on Aaj News on November 18.

Hamza Shehbaz, Maryam Nawaz, and Sohail Shaukat Butt were among the prominent candidates shortlisted for NA 118, NA 119, and NA 120 seats.

It is expected that Sheikh Rohail Asghar from NA 121, Khawaja Saad Rafique from NA 122, and Shehbaz Sharif from NA 123 would contest the elections. Moreover, Attaullah Tarar is among the possible names for NA 127 where if finalised he would be up against PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Hafiz Noman and Mehr Ishtiaq Muslim are frontrunners in the race for PML-N’s candidates from NA 128 and NA 129 respectively whereas it was expected that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif would fight elections from NA 130.

Former prime minister Imran Khan has written an opinion piece in one of the top British magazines, The Economist, “by invitation” where he spoke about the February 8 general elections and the economic situation.

“Whether elections happen or not, the manner in which I and my party have been targeted since a farcical vote of no confidence in April 2022 has made one thing clear: the establishment—the army, security agencies and the civil bureaucracy—is not prepared to provide any playing field at all, let alone a level one, for PTI,” he wrote for the UK’s magazine. The piece was uploaded to the website on January 4.

Elections are scheduled to be held next month in Pakistan, with human rights watchdog in the country expressing concerns about the lack of a level playing field granted to certain political parties in the run-up to the polls.

It would be held under a transitional government led by interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar. Many analysts have frowned on the “kind” of environment, as described by some political parties, provided to the PML-N in Punjab. But the caretaker setup has rebuffed such impressions.

On Thursday, the party founded by Khan and others lost another battle for its iconic electoral symbol—bat—when the Lahore High Court dismissed a party’s petition against the polls overseer’s decision to nullify PTI’s intra-party elections and consequently take away its electoral symbol.

In his piece, Khan claimed that the country’s top electoral authority has been tainted by its bizarre actions against the backdrop of not holding snap polls in Punjab on May 14, 2023, despite a Supreme Court order last March.

According to Khan, the people are right to be “skeptical” about whether the national vote would take place.

Khan alleged that contempt cases were launched against him and other PTI leaders for criticising the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The former chairman of PTI described the May 9 events as a “false-flag operation” when his party was blamed for arson at military installations.

“Despite all this, PTI remains popular,” he said and alleged that the ECP was desperate to deny the party the right to contest elections. “The courts seem to be losing credibility daily.”

Khan spoke about the charges, including treason, against him and denial of permission for his party to hold worker conventions. In his piece, he spoke about the cipher controversy and his ouster from office in 2021 via a no-confidence motion.

It merits here to mention that the editor’s note mentioned that the government and the US State Department have denied Khan’s allegations of American interference in Pakistani politics. The government is prosecuting the ex-PM under the Official Secrets Act.

“In this scenario, even if elections were held they would be a disaster and a farce, since PTI is being denied its basic right to campaign. Such a joke of an election would only lead to further political instability. This, in turn, would further aggravate an already volatile economy,” he said.

As the former PM called for fair elections, Khan said: “Unfortunately, with democracy under siege, we are heading in the opposite direction on all these fronts.”

Imran Khan’s PTI lost another battle for its electoral symbol of the bat on Thursday when the Lahore High Court issued a judgment it had reserved a day earlier.

Justice Jawad Hasan of the Lahore High Court dismissed a PTI petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to nullify PTI’s intra-party elections and consequently take away its electoral symbol.

Justice Hasan had reserved the judgment on Wednesday after hearing arguments from the political party and the ECP.

Dismissing the petition filed by local PTI leader Umar Aftab Dhillon, the justice ruled that it was not admissible.

The petition was filed before the Lahore High Court shortly before the party approached the Peshawar High Court with a similar plea last month.

Peshawar High Court initially suspended the ECP decision and restored the intra-party election.

However, on Wednesday Peshawar High Court judge decided on a miscellaneous plea in the same case and reversed the earlier decision, again taking away the bat symbol.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa observed on Wednesday that it seemed that elections would not take place in the country if complaints were being raised despite strong orders of the court, according to a BBC report.

A three-member of the Supreme Court took up PTI’s petitions for level playing field in the general elections on Wednesday. Led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the bench included Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali.

The bench ordered an implementation report on its order for conducting fair elections in the country. It also issued notices to Punjab’s inspector general and chief secretary over complaints filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Sardar Latif Khosa appeared on behalf of PTI and argued that the nomination papers of the party’s members had been rejected en-masse. However, the bench advised them to approach tribunals that have been set up.

To this Khosa replied that in many instances, candidates were not even being given the orders of the ECP which would allow them to file appeals.

The bench also asked why the inspector general and chief secretary had been made parties in the case when it was a contempt petition. The bench observed that the issue must be directed at the Election Commission of Pakistan only.

When Khosa argued that the persisting issues faced by the PTI were a result of non-compliance of SC’s orders to the ECP, the CJP observed that the ECP had already filed an implementation report over the order.

He then observed that if things persisted as they were, it did not seem like elections would take place in the country.

Former parliamentarian and Chairman National Democratic Movement Mohsin Dawar survived an attack Waziristan on Wednesday.

Dawar was reportedly travelling for his election campaign in Miranshah’s Tappi area when his vehicle was fired upon.

Bullet marks were seen on the back and side windows of Dawar’s vehicle. However, the former MNA remained safe and no other casualties were reported.

Dawar was shifted to a safe place following the attack.

A heavy contingent of police arrived on the scene as soon as the incident was reported and the area is now being searched.

Dawar was elected to the National Assembly in 2018 as an independent candidate.

Peshawar High Court restored a decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan denying the use of the bat symbol to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

The Peshawar High Court and Lahore High Court separately heard on Wednesday petitions about the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decision to take away PTI’s electoral symbol of ‘bat’. The two high courts had reserved their judgments.

PTI wants the ECP to restore its electoral symbol, bat. It approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC) in the final week of December and a single member ruled in its favour.

However, the ECP had filed a review petition against the PHC’s single bench judgment.

On the other hand, PTI is seeking a court order against ECP’s refusal to implement the PHC single bench judgment and grant it the bat symbol.

Pehsawar High Court

Justice Ejaz Khan at Peshawar High Court heard the review petition filed by the ECP against the single bench order on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, PTI’s counsel Qazi Anwar argued before the court that ECP’s review petition against PHC’s earlier decision was against the law. He also said that ECP was not implementing the PHC order restoring the PTI instra-party election and bat symbol.

Since the ECP lawyer had already completed his arguments on Tuesday, the court reserved its judgment after hearing Qazi Anwar.

The ECP maintained before the PHC that PTI had filed a similar petition before the Lahore High Court and then approached the PHC without waiting for a decision.

Lahore High Court

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court heard a PTI petition against the ECP decision.

The PTI counsel told the court that the Punjab Election Commission was not implementing the PHC judgement restoring its intra-party election.

Justice Jawad Hasan raised questions on the PTI petition and asked if the Punjab Election Commission was bound to implement PHC judgment or whether a provincial election commission could go against the Chief Election Commission of Pakistan.

Justice Hasan later reserved the judgement, which is yet to be announced.

In Pakistan, where an election is scheduled for Feb. 8, Imran Khan, who is in prison on an official secrets acts case after being ousted as prime minister last year, used a AI-generated image and voice clone to address an online election rally in December, which drew more than 1.4 million views on YouTube and was attended live by tens of thousands.

While Pakistan has drafted an AI law, digital rights activists have criticised the lack of guardrails against disinformation, and to protect vulnerable communities including women.

“The threat that disinformation poses to elections and the overall democratic process in Pakistan cannot be stressed upon enough,” said Nighat Dad, co-founder of the non-profit Digital Rights Foundation.

“In the past, disinformation on online platforms has managed to sway voting behaviour, party support, and even influenced legislation change. Synthetic media will make this easier to do,” she added.

With elections due in India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan in the coming weeks, misinformation is rife on social media platforms, with deepfakes - video or audio made using AI and broadcast as authentic - being particularly concerning, say tech experts and authorities.

India

Divyendra Singh Jadoun was busy making artificial intelligence-based visual effects and voice clones for film and television in India, when he began getting calls from politicians: could he create AI videos, or deepfakes, for their election campaign?

With a hotly-contested local election in his home state of Rajasthan last November, and a national election due by May this year, the opportunity for his company, The Indian Deepfaker, is tremendous. But Jadoun was reluctant.

“The technology to create deepfakes is so good now, it can be done almost instantaneously, with very little effort - and people cannot tell if it’s real or fake,” said Jadoun, 30.

“There are no guidelines on deepfakes, and that’s worrying, as it has the potential to influence how a person votes,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Instagram reels of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi singing in regional languages have gone viral recently, as have TikTok videos of Indonesian presidential candidates Prabowo Subianto and Anies Baswedan speaking in fluent Arabic.

But they were all created with AI, and posted with no label.

In India, where more than 900 million people are eligible to vote, Modi has said deepfake videos are a “big concern”, and authorities have warned social media platforms they could lose their safe-harbour status that protects them from liability for third-party content posted on their sites if they do not act.

Indonesia

In Indonesia - where more than 200 million voters will go to the polls on Feb. 14 - deepfakes of all three presidential candidates and their running mates are circulating online, and have the potential to influence election outcomes, said Nuurrianti Jalli, who studies misinformation on social media.

“From microtargeting of voters with disinformation to spreading false narratives at a scale and speed unachievable by human actors alone, these AI tools can significantly influence voter perceptions and behaviour,” she said.

“In environments where misinformation is already prevalent, AI-generated content can further skew public perception and influence voting behaviour,” added Jalli, an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University’s media school.

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh - where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set for her fourth straight term after polls on Jan. 7 - deepfake videos of female opposition politicians Rumin Farhana in a bikini and Nipun Roy in a swimming pool have emerged.

While they were debunked quickly, they are still circulated, and even poor-quality deepfake content is misleading people, said Sayeed Al-Zaman, an assistant professor of journalism at Bangladesh’s Jahangirnagar University, who studies social media.

“Given the low levels of information and digital literacy in Bangladesh, deepfakes can be potent carriers of political propaganda if crafted and deployed effectively,” he said.

“But the government does not appear concerned.”

The ministry of information did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Political proganda’

Deepfake images and videos churned out by generative AI tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and OpenAI’s Dall-E popped up ahead of elections from New Zealand to Turkey and Argentina last year, with growing concerns about their impact on U.S. presidential polls in November.

AI makes the creation and spread of disinformation faster, cheaper and more effective, the U.S. non-profit Freedom House said in a recent report.

Dangerous sign

At least 500,000 video and voice deepfakes were shared on social media sites globally in 2023, estimated DeepMedia, a company developing tools to detect synthetic media.

Platforms have struggled to keep up. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said it aims to remove synthetic media when the “manipulation is not apparent and could mislead, particularly in the case of video content.”

Google, which owns YouTube, said in November that the video sharing platform requires “creators to disclose altered or synthetic content that is realistic, including using AI tools, and we’ll inform viewers about such content through labels”.

But countries including India, Indonesia and Bangladesh have recently passed laws to more closely police online content and penalise social media sites for content deemed misinformation, so platforms are “holding their punches”, said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia policy director at advocacy group Access Now.

In these countries, “this election cycle is actually worse than the last cycle - platforms are not set up to handle problems, and they are not being responsive and proactive enough. And that’s a very dangerous sign,” he said.

“There is a danger that the world’s attention is only on the U.S. election, but the standards being applied there, the effort being made there should be duplicated everywhere,” he added.

In India, where Modi is widely forecast to win a third term, Jadoun - who had declined to make deepfake campaign videos for the state elections - is gearing up to make them for the general election.

These will be personalised video messages from politicians for party workers, not voters, that can be sent on WhatsApp.

“They can really have an impact, because there are hundreds of thousands of party workers and they will, in turn, forward them to their friends and family,” he said.

“But we will add a watermark to show that it is made with AI, so there is no misunderstanding. That’s important.”

Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party is being targeted by “systematic dismemberment” and “pre-poll rigging”, a rights watchdog said Tuesday, casting doubt on the fairness of upcoming elections.

Nomination papers for Khan and the majority of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party candidates have been rejected by the electoral commission, according to PTI, shutting them out of the February 8 ballot.

“The nature of the rejections seems systematic,” Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) official Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

“The way scores of nomination papers were rejected is brazen and the reasons given for the rejections were very flimsy,” he said, adding there was “no room for doubt that pre-poll rigging is taking place”.

Khan, 71, has been in prison since August and is facing trial in a slew of cases he says have been orchestrated to prevent him from contesting the election as the figurehead of his party.

The Electoral Commission of Pakistan rejected his nomination because he had been disqualified from holding office over a graft conviction last year.

But the HRCP said it had documented “harassment” of other PTI candidates attempting to put their names down for the poll.

“After the election takes place there may be a lack of acceptance regarding its fairness” and the new government may not be recognised as “legitimate” by the public, Babar warned.

“This situation could intensify the existing political uncertainty and, ultimately, contribute to a further erosion of human rights.”

Khan – a hugely popular former international cricketer – was ousted by a parliamentary no- confidence vote in April 2022 after falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military leaders.

In opposition he waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the top brass, even alleging they plotted an assassination attempt that wounded him.

After Khan’s brief detention in May sparked unrest, PTI has been the subject of a widespread crackdown, with leading figures either jailed or forced to leave the party.

The fate of politicians in Pakistan has historically ridden on their relationship with the military establishment, which has directly ruled the country for much of its history.

Pakistan’s election commission is due to announce the final list of contesting candidates in three weeks.

PTI has pledged to appeal the more than 90 percent of their candidates they said were rejected from running.

Former member of National Assembly Jamshed Dasti has alleged that his house was raided by officials from intelligence agencies and the Counter Terrorism Department where his wife was stripped and children beaten. He has called upon the chief justice of Pakistan to take action.

In a video posted to X, A visibly shaken Dasti, clad in a white shawl, alleged that his family was kept hostage for multiple hours. He said that he had been fighting for nine months but authorities had reached a new extreme.

Dasti said he belonged to worker class and had been elected to the National Assembly four times. He said that he was implicated in a case but had already obtained protective bail.

He alleged the houses of his friends had also been raided and the entire area been kept hostage by 40 vehicles.

He said that the action taken by intelligence and CTD officials was causing him to lose his mind.

The former MP also called on members of his tribe to rise as their honour was being attacked.

Dasti said that he was prepared to die but would fight the people who had raided his house.

Calling on the chief justice, Dasti said with tears that the elections had already become a farce but now people’s houses and families were being attacked.

He added that he would live and die in Pakistan and he no longer cared what happened in the election but the injustice being inflicted that was destroying the country should stop.

Maulana Fazal ur Rehman’s convoy was attacked in Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday, his party Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam said. However, he was reported to escape the attack unhurt.

The convoy reportedly came under firing from both sides, according to the party. The incident took place near the Yarik interchange.

The JUI chief was travelling for an election campaign event when he was attacked, the party added.

In a statement.A party spokesman described the attack as ‘cowardly’.

The spokesman added that the the party had repeatedly warned that the atmosphere was not favourable for campaigning by the senior leadership of JUI.

He added that the administration often writes letters regarding threats but does not take any practical steps.

The spokesman said that the attack needs to be investigated and there needs to be an explanation as to why the institutions were not fulfilling their duties. He went on to say that the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is rapidly deteriorating.

“The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa consider me a Pukhtana [a Pashtun native girl] and promote me as one of their own” and not as a minority Hindu woman, said Saveera Parkash, the first woman from Buner to contest in the general election for constituency PK-25 of the province.

The 25-year-old doctor appeared on Indian TV channel Aaj Tak for an interview where she debunked the propaganda being spread against Pakistan for its treatment of minorities and women population.

Prakash is contesting in the election 2024 on the PPP’s ticket on a general seat as well as a reserved seat for minorities and has been given the title of “Daughter of Buner” by the people of her district.

In her appearance on the Indian channel, she countered prejudiced questions posed by the show’s host, saying that she received strong support from people across the district.

“I am contesting from the PPP platform so they are supporting me, however, other parties are also showing support for me. They do not discriminate based on religion or gender,” Parkash added.

The host of the show referred to the quotes of former tainted Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria who continues to allege that the Hindu minority has been suppressed in the country.

Read: Before Saveera Parkash, another Hindu woman competed against men in Pakistan

Giving her example, Parkash rejected claims about such discrimination against minorities in Pakistan and said that she did not experience such incidents and was never considered an outsider throughout her life.

“I do not agree with this statement. KP which is considered less progressive than Punjab and Sindh has given me immense support, that too in a backward district such as Buner,” she said.

To the surprise of all, the host of the show told Parkash, born and brought up in Buner, that “despite being a Hindu, it seems you have completely become a Pakistani.”

“I was born in Pakistan and brought up in Pakistan. My duties and responsibilities have further increased since I was declared daughter of the district,” she replied.

The nomination papers of former prime minister Imran Khan from Lahore’s NA-122 and Mianwali’s NA-89 constituencies were rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan along with several leaders of PTI.

Meanwhile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s papers were accepted for NA-130 in Lahore. His daughter Maryam Nawaz had also filed papers on multiple NA and provincial seats.

Her papers for three National Assembly constituencies including NA-119 and NA-120, and four Punjab Assembly constituencies; PP-159, PP-160, PP-165 and PP-80 were approved by the returning officers.

The nomination papers of JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif were also approved ahead of the Election 2024.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s nomination papers were approved from Lahore’s NA-127.

PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Zulfi Bukhari and Azam Swati’s papers from different constituencies were also rejected.

Additionally, the nomination papers of PTI leaders Shahram Khan, Murad Saeed, Shehryar Afridi, Atif Khan, Qasim Suri and Ali Amin Gandapur along with BNP-M’s Sardar Akhter Mengal were rejected by the ROs.

The nomination papers of Awami Muslim League President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed were also rejected in two constituencies.

He had submitted his nomination papers in the NA-56 and NA-57 constituencies.

The caretaker government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has extended the winter vacations till January 7 owing to training programme of teachers for elections and extreme cold in the province.

The schools were scheduled to open on January 1, however, these educational institutions will now remain closed till Jan 7, 2024.

EU Ambassador Dr. Reena Cuenca has said that the European Union will send a small mission of election experts for the February 8 election in Pakistan instead of a full-fledged election observer mission.

She spoke to Aaj News on Saturday hours after reports emerged that the EU was not sending election observers to Pakistan.

“An election expert mission is different from election observation mission. An expert mission is really made up of people who do nothing but monitor elections. They do not give a political assessment whether the elections have been fair and do not give recommendations,” she told Shaukat Piracha on his show Rubaroo on Saturday.

She went on to add that the findings of the mission will not be made public without the government’s approval.

According to her, the EU needs several months time to be able to send an observation mission.

“We have to budget for sending an observation mission and frankly we did not know just like the rest of Pakistan did not know for a long time when the elections will take place,” Dr Cuenca said.

Reacting to the announcement of election date, she said that the EU countries were looking forward to a free and fair electoral process.

“We are very encouraged that there is a date for the elections and we are looking for it to seeing those elections take place in a free, fair and inclusive manner. It will be a test for Pakistan’s devotion towards democracy,” she added.

German Ambassador to Pakistan Alfred Grannas said that it was difficult to send a full-fledged mission for election due to the paucity of time.

“As far as I can say there are some processes in the making that some people will come. Whether it will be full-fledged election observer mission - probably not because it is too short from the announcement of the election date to the election date itself,” he added.

Ambassador Grannas said that Germany was confident that the electoral process will be handled in a way that could result in a legitimate elected government.

“I agree that a level playing field is a very important thing for fair elections. I am not in a position to say anything about its presence or absence. I think the electoral process will show and we are confident and very much rely on the Pakistani democracy to function,” he added.

A two-day Corps Commander Conference decided on Thursday that it would provide all nevessary support for the general elections in the country.

Chaired by General Asim Munir, the conference went on for two days at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

“The Forum also noted that requisite and necessary support will also be extended to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for forthcoming general elections,” a statement from the Inter-Srvices Public Relations said after the meeting.

The conference also decided that all terrorists and their facilitators will be dealt with the ‘full might of the state’.

The corps commander conference also reviewed actions being taken against smuggling, electricity theft, hoarding and other illegal economic activites.

“Pakistan Army will continue to provide all out support to relevant government institutions and LEAs to curb such crimes,” the ISPR statement said.

The conference also expressed support for the efforts of the Special Investment Facilitation Council to bring investment into the country.

The corps commanders also expressed their condemnation for the ongoing human rights violations in Kashmir and Palestine, the statement added.