ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday demanded the European Union (EU) make its report on last month’s Pakistan national election public, calling it a right of the people of the South Asian country.
Several poll observer groups, including delegations from the EU and Commonwealth, arrived in Pakistan to observe the national election held on February 8.
The election was marred by a mobile network shutdown and delays in release of results, and led to allegations of vote-rigging, mainly by Khan’s PTI party.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said the EU report, which had been handed over to the government via the election commission, was “extremely critical.”
“We demand European Union make this report public for better conduct of election [in Pakistan] in the future,” he said. “This is a right of the people of Pakistan and they should know how election was conducted in this country.”
Hasan claimed the EU report was a compilation of “pre-poll rigging, polling-day rigging and post-poll rigging.”
The development comes weeks after Peter Stano, the EU lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, lamented a “lack of a level playing field due to the inability of some political actors to contest the elections, restrictions to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression both online and offline, restrictions of access to the Internet, as well as allegations of severe interference in the electoral process, including arrests of political activists” in Pakistan.
The EU official had called upon Pakistani authorities to ensure a timely and full investigation of all reported election irregularities and to implement the recommendations of the Election Expert Mission report.
Ahead of the polls, Khan’s PTI had been severely hamstrung, with rallies banned, its party symbol taken away, and dozens of its candidates rejected from eligibility to stand.
Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, accuses Pakistan’s powerful military of sidelining him and his party from politics. The military denies Khan’s accusations and says it does not interfere in political matters.
