The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has questioned the legitimacy of Pakistan’s upcoming general elections in view of the participation of members of banned outfits and terror attacks on contestants of select political parties.

“There are now ample grounds to doubt their legitimacy – with alarming implications for Pakistan’s transition to an effective democracy,” the commission warned adding the July 25 elections would be the dirtiest, most micromanaged and most intensively participated polls in the country’s history.

This is the first time that members of proscribed outfits were allowed to openly participate in elections. The Milli Muslim League (MML), the unregistered political front of the terrorist outfit, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has fielded more than 160 candidates, including son and son-in-law of the 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

The HRCP said it was alarmed at the stealthy reappearance of banned outfits under other names and the fact that the state has conferred political legitimacy on them by allowing them to contest the elections. “That their campaigns have consistently misused religion to peddle a dangerous, divisive rhetoric is cause for serious concern,” read the statement issued by the commission on Monday. It urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to revisit its scrutiny process to determine why nomination papers of candidate from banned outfits were accepted without further investigation.

The human rights watch dog said it was painfully clear from recent terrorist attacks in Peshawar and Mastung that killed over 175 people, including political leaders that the political space ceded to banned outfits had emboldened terror groups.

The commission expressed serious reservations about the extraordinary powers accorded to security forces – ostensibly to ensure the integrity of the polls. “That some 350,000 security personnel are to be deployed outside as well as inside polling stations, and that military functionaries have been assigned magistrate’s powers on the premises, has blurred the line between civilian and non-civilian responsibility for the electoral process. Such measures are unprecedented and border dangerously on micromanagement by an institution that should not be involved so closely in what is strictly a civilian mandate,” it stated. The presence of such large numbers of security personnel, observers fear, will cause intimidation and influence voters.

Moreover, the commission said it was deeply concerned that the political class was being selectively squeezed. “This is apparent from reports that members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are being pressured to switch political loyalties and candidates are being asked to return their tickets, and that electoral opposition to two mainstream parties – the PML-N in Punjab and the PPP in Sindh – is being ‘manufactured’ in strategic areas,” it said.

The HRCP reaffirmed the public perception that all parties have not been given equal freedom to run their election campaigns. “Candidates from parties such as the PML-N, the PPP and Awami Workers Party have reported being harassed by law enforcement and security personnel during their campaigns, their movement monitored or restricted without good reason, and their election banners removed en masse, again reportedly by security personnel,” it noted.

The HRCP said it was strongly concerned over the recent curbs on the print and broadcast media – specifically, the numerous instances in which journalists perceived as favoring the PML-N or PPP or deemed critical of the security establishment have been subject to censorship, intimidation, harassment and abduction. Such pressures on the media, according to HRCP, serve to manipulate public opinion, forestall critical debate and leave powerful institutions unaccountable to the public.

