Pakistan: Inching toward Contested Elections Overview

With the military still seemingly bent on punishing the PTI for the 9 May attacks, the commission will struggle to ensure the election is not tilted against the party. [...] The contro- versy over the PTI also underscores the importance of the commission monitoring the performance of its own officials during the vote and in the tabulation of results. [...] Rising Polarisation ahead of the Polls Political polarisation is hardly new to Pakistan, and nor are contested elections that involve the military high command.1 The powerful army has regularly intervened, often with the judiciary’s support, to tilt the playing field against perceived adver- saries and to back potential allies.2 The army put its thumb on the scales in 2017, a year before the vote. [...] The PTI government first appeared to enjoy the military’s backing, to the extent that some analysts called it a “hybrid regime” in which the civilian government played second fiddle to the high command.5 But by the time of the no-trust vote, it had fallen out with the top brass. [...] Implying that the departed caretaker ministers were following the high command’s orders, and referring to the alleged military manipulations that led to the PTI 2018 victory, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said: “Having endured the rule of a selected [PTI] government, we cannot afford another selected government”.57 The election commission has taken steps to protect the sanctity of the pol.