ISLAMABAD: US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Monday clarified Washington’s stance that it does not support any one political entity in Pakistan, urging Islamabad to hold free and fair elections as the country heads toward elections. 

Miller’s remarks follow US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome’s August 24 meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja in which the American envoy reiterated Washington’s support for free and fair polls in the country. Pakistan is heading toward general elections but polls, which were supposed to be held in November, are widely expected to be delayed to February and beyond since the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) first plans to redraw federal and provincial constituencies on the basis of the latest digital census. The ECP has said it would complete the exercise by December 14. 

Pakistan’s election regulator has assured all stakeholders that elections would be held on time and has held consultations with major political parties on redrawing constituencies. The ECP has assured political parties it would hold polls immediately after the exercise is concluded. Most parties have backed the ECP’s decision to redraw constituencies except for former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which has described the election regulator’s delimitation timetable as “malicious and a clear deviation from the constitution.” Pakistan’s constitution requires national polls to be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.

“The United States does not take any position with respect to the outcome of an election in Pakistan,” Miller responded to a question about Blome’s meeting with Raja last month, during a US State Department briefing. “We do not support any one political party or any candidate in Pakistan.  But we of course urge free and fair elections in Pakistan, as we do throughout the world.”

Independent analysts have raised concerns about the credibility of the upcoming elections, with Khan behind bars on graft allegations that he says are politically motivated. Khan has accused Pakistan’s powerful military and the previous government of former premier Shehbaz Sharif of attempting to sideline him from politics due to his growing popularity among the masses. Both have categorically rejected the allegations. 

Concerns about whether elections in Pakistan would be free, fair and transparent dominate the political landscape at a time when the South Asian country is reeling from an economic crisis that has seen its national currency weaken considerably against the US dollar while its reserves plummet. Steep power bills amid staggering inflation triggered protests across the country last week and in August, as Islamabad looks to implement tough conditionalities imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Pakistan in return for a $3 billion bailout package that it approved in June. 

In response to a question, Miller said Washington would continue to support reforms that improve Pakistan’s economy. 

“I’ve spoken to this on a number of occasions about our support for reforms that would allow the improvement of the economy in Pakistan, and will continue to do so,” the US official said.