Pakistan: violence overshadows elections | The Lucerne newspaper

Police patrol an ITP office in Quetta, a city in western Pakistan. (Photo: Ahmed Fayyaz / EPA, July 16, 2018)

The latest terrorist attacks are aimed at discouraging voters and undermining the foundations of the state: On Sunday, a Tehreek-e-Insaf party candidate fell into North Pakistan (PTI) a victim of attack. Ikramullah Gandapur died when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to his jeep. The attack was part of a series of acts of violence on the part of extremists seeking to scare the more than 100 million voters in the country so that they would not be able to. 39 do not dare to participate in tomorrow's parliamentary elections scheduled for Wednesday.

Already on July 13, a terrorist killed 149 visitors during an election in Baluchistan. For election day, extremists have announced other attacks. More than 300,000 soldiers are supposed to guarantee the safety of citizens. The terror campaign eclipses a choice that many Pakistanis no longer believe to be free and fair. The Pakistan Independent Human Rights Commission (HRCP) said in a recent report that there were "sufficient grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the elections". HRCP spokesman Ibn Abdul Rehman reported "blatant, aggressive and intrepid attempts to manipulate the outcome of the upcoming elections."

A former cricket star as favorite

It is not only voters who are intimidated, the press has also come under heavy pressure lately, say Pakistani media representatives. Free election coverage in advance was de facto impossible, said the general manager of Pakistani media group Dawn, Hameed Haroon, at the BBC. The Pakistani army is committing an "unprecedented attack" on press freedom in its home country and trying to influence the elections in this way.

Haroon hinted that the generals wanted to lift the former international cricket star Imran Khan to the post of prime minister to continue pulling the strings in the background. In fact, Khan's PTI party has a good chance of becoming the winner of the election. In recent polls, she was right in front of the current ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

For a long time, Khan's electoral victory seemed unlikely. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who also won the last election, had a good chance of being re-elected for a long time. But last summer, Khan's party filed a complaint of corruption allegations against Sharif. The 68-year-old man was subsequently removed from office and sentenced in absentia to ten years' imprisonment in the absence of observers deemed legally doubtful by the observers. With his daughter Maryam, he was arrested when he returned to Pakistan in mid-July.

Meanwhile, the PML-N is led by his younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, and is ranked second in the polls. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), represented by the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, is expected to finish in third place. With Khan could now come to power, a man who has undergone an astonishing change: 65 years old was in his youth a part of the London jet set and is considered a national hero, since he brought to Pakistan in 1992 as captain, the only title of cricket world champion. Today, the old bon vivant emphasizes conservatism, woo Islamists and is ready to serve the army.

Difficult tasks wait

However, the boss of the ITP can not yet be sure of his cause: the election is probably decided in Punjab. The traditional stronghold of the Sharifs political dynasty is the most populous province. Khan's victory in Punjab would most likely involve allegations of manipulation and demonstrations. Difficult tasks await the winner of the elections: the Pakistani economy weakens, with a budget deficit of 36 billion francs planned for 2018. And because of the corrupt bureaucracy, international donors are reluctant to inject money. # 39; money.