Rights activists claim military is trying to swing Wednesday’s vote in favour of Imran KhanWidespread allegations that the military is working behind the scenes to swing Pakistan’s election this week in favour of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan are threatening to sully what is only the country’s second democratic transition of power.
The vote on Wednesday is expected to be a two-way race between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN),the party headed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is now in jail and has for decades had tense relations with the army. “The military has exiguous desire to see the PMLN return to power, or ” said Michael Kugelman,a South Asia expert at the Wilson Center in Washington DC, and it is willing to engineer actions behind the scenes that undercut the PMLN’s electoral prospects in a gigantic way.” Related: Former Pakistan prime minister barred from re-election The final few months have amplified the deep imbalance in civil-military relationsContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com