Pakistan: What Next after the Rigged National Elections?
Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.
The Nation Becomes Victim of Futile Elections
A nation already at the edge of socioeconomic and crises of moral and political integrity becomes victim of authoritarian tyranny, political sinisterism and enduring pains, horrors and global degradation because of the fallacy of national elections being rigged by those very officials supposed to be responsible for a fair and free ballot box exercises on February 8-9. Not so, the elections are alleged to be stolen from the rights of the masses and their constitutional exercise. The contemporary trajectory of politics spells out the unthinkable wave of chaos and mismanagement by few generals and corrupt judiciary shaping a dark future for the present and future-making. Pakistan is governed by a colonialist elite subservient to the Western world and the nation desperately needs a New Constitution, new systems of political governance and new-age educated, morally and intellectually visionary leadership to cope with the 21st century challenges of survival and progress. While the truth was evaporating, in a rare display of courage and professional honesty, Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatta took the lead to be free from history and laws of proliferating disgust, delusion and irrational injustice to clarify to public the facts of rigged national elections.
Pakistani masses are outraged to learn of the rigging of February 8-9, national elections in major cities contended by leading political parties. At the February 17, press conference, Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatta (Rawalpindi Division), location of the Armed Forces Headquarters admitted that: “We converted the losers into winners, reversing margins of 70,000 votes in 13 national assembly seats,” he told reporters, also implicating the head of the election commission and the country’s top judge. The public disclosures highlighted the role and fraudulent involvement of the Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa and CEC Sikander Sultan Raja to change the results of the ballot boxes.
According to Pakistan’s Dawn News, Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatta admitted he was “deeply involved in serious crime like mega election rigging 2024” and said that “stabbing the country in its back” does not allow him sleep. “I should be punished for the injustice I have done and others who were involved in this injustice should also be punished,” The Commissioner showed solidarity with the cause of people and justice and resigned from his executive position.
Several thousands of public supporters of the PTI Party and independent activists demonstrated in major cities across Pakistan against the rigging of the elections and to undermine the present and future course of a fair and free national election. According to global news media, “People are coming from all walks of life. Women, children and entire families … have converged at the Press Club in Islamabad. They say their mandate has been stolen and the government is trying to put an illegitimate government into power which lost the election.” Many observers point out multi layers of a planned scheme of rigging the elections. Saeed Malik, a Pakistani commentator (“Commissioner Chatha’s Gift……..February 18, 24), cited the confession of a bold and honest Commissioner:
that the C.J Qazi Faez Isa, and the CEC Sikander Sultan Raja, were complicit with him in the perpetration of this act of unprecedented national fraud…….He confessed that it was on his instructions that his subordinates had rigged ALL the seats so massively that candidates winning by as many as 70000 votes, lost out to the ones trailing them; that his conscience could not bear the thought that this could eventually become a spiral which would unravel Pakistan; that first he thought of committing suicide in an act of contrition, but then decided that instead of this sinful death, it would be better that he exposed what happened to the public, and be hung by the gallows instead.
One wonders, what was the precarious reason to hold the national elections when the Generals and few Judges of the Supreme Court wanted the corrupt and morally and politically disgraced Sharfi brothers back to political power? The Generals produced Bhuttos, Sharifs, Zardari and Musharaf who stole more than 50 years of the national lifetime, wealth and opportunities for change to buy palaces in the UK, France and Spain and discredit the nation, its honor and standing in global affairs. They all escaped the eventuality of their crimes against the nation through infested corruption and unfair systems of legal justice. It is widely believed that the top brand of military were directly involved in organizing a fraudulent election and keeping Imran Khan, the former popular PM and his PTI party out of the reach to win the elections or to form any future civilian government in Pakistan. It is highly likely that twisted logic and erroneous tactics of false accusations and charges have been implied to imprison Imran Khan and some 20k of his party affiliates locked up arbitrarily to ensure a favorable outcome for the indicted criminal and previously twice dismissed Nawaz Sharif or his brother to form the next central government. please see: “Pakistan: A Quagmire of Strange Democracy at Work.” https://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2024/02/18/pakistan-a-quagmire-of-strange-democracy-at-work.php
The Ruling Elite Planned a Scheme of Rigged Elections
Pakistan media reports cite Moulana Fazal ul Rehman – an affiliate of the PPP and Sharif’s party affirmed that the April 2022 ousting of elected PM Imran Khan was a conspiracy engineered by the former Chief of the Army Staff General Javaid Bajawa. Now to deprive the PTI from participation and under false and politically orchestrated impulses, Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 -14 years in jail on multiple fake legal cases. Vengeful and paranoid Generals wanted to keep Khan and PTI out of power so nobody could question their wrong thinking and deceitful actions against the nation. It seems that few generals under the Chief of the Staff Assem Munir have no sense of time and history as they are playing with the destiny of the Nation for which they have no moral or intellectual capacity, no right or legal mandate to do so. Most dreadful tragedies have infallibly resulted in victimizing the masses. Today, the nation is crippled with catastrophic events of insecurity, mismanagement and socioeconomic and political exploitation. They never imagined–how the present and future generations will identify them? Please see by this author:“Pakistan Imperatives of Political Change for a Progressive Nation”2019; “Pakistan where Politics and Corruption are the Same” 2014; “Pakistan in Search of Freedom and Security”, Uncommon Thought Journal andGlobal Research: 10/20/22, and “Pakistan, Planned Political Chaos: Imran Khan a Victim of Hope for the Future”, Global Research: 11/06/2022; “Pakistan Striving for Its Soul.” 8/23 https://www.transcend.org/tms/2023/08/pakistan-striving-for-its-soul/
Is there a cure to cruelty of the colonial systems of political governance? What is the answer to the twisted logic of fair elections, perversity of time, loss of national credibility and tortuous circumstances for the nation to imagine a dark future? Pakistan needs an urgent systematic navigational change but few Generals and judges are part of the problem. If honesty and accountability has any truthful meanings, the conscientious Pakistani masses would demand that the Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir, the Chief Justice Qazi Faez Esa, the Corrupt Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Raja and others involved in the fraudulent scheme of elections should resign on their own if they have any sense of professional integrity to serve the nation. If they fail to respond to the call of professional consciousness, they are not above the law and should be held accountable in a public court of justice. Would they ever realize and learn what went wrong with their professional thinking and to cause pains, horrors of injustice and systematic defamation to the credibility and honor of Pakistan? The Election Comission must take immediate remedial actions to restore trust, honesty and legtimacy to the outcomes of the elections and declare rightful candidates to be the elected members of the Assemblies. Otherwise, Pakistan could lose its time and history as a progressive nation.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.
