US Ambassador Lu asks Pakistan to look into the election and may even hold new elections

Washington: On Wednesday, a US envoy pleaded with Pakistan to look into any anomalies in the previous month’s general election and, should it uncover solid proof of meddling, to hold fresh elections in the impacted areas.

Donald Lu, the senior State Department official for South and Central Asia, told a congressional subcommittee that “the Election Commission of Pakistan, should it find that these irregularities are substantiated, should re-run elections (in constituencies) where there has been interference.”
Pakistan’s election was tainted by violence and arrests before the early February vote, an internet outage on election day, and abnormally delayed results that sparked claims of vote manipulation. On March 4, Shehbaz Sharif took over as prime minister, leading a coalition that polled lower than those supported by imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.
Lu said, “We have never used the term ‘free and fair’ in the characterization of this election,” in testimony before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee that was looking into Pakistan’s democracy and ties with the United States.
“We have expressed serious concerns about the pre-election environment: the violence that occurred—terrorism and political violence,” he said. “We have expressed concern about the failure to register individual candidates and political parties, the mass arrests of those in opposition, the shutdown of the internet, and the censorship and pressure placed on journalists.”
Concerned about the inconsistencies that have been highlighted, Britain and the EU have also called for an investigation. Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, voiced concerns about acts of violence and the disruption of mobile connections.
In response to queries, Lu refuted claims made by Khan that he had meddled in Khan’s ouster from office in 2022.
“This conspiracy idea and these accusations are false. It is an outright lie,” Lu said, to loud protestations from several audience members. Lu reported receiving threats in response to the claims.
After falling out with Pakistan’s strong military, which refutes any involvement in politics, Khan was removed from office. Through a vote of no confidence in the house, he claimed that the military of both Pakistan and the United States had a hand in his removal.
After being removed, Khan was the target of many legal actions, which resulted in his disqualification from running in the election in February and his lengthy jail sentences. He stays incarcerated and denies any guilt.