By Staff Repotrter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Saturday rejected the criticism of its national elections by the United States, Britain, and the European Union, saying they failed to appreciate the “undeniable fact” of Pakistan’s democratic achievement.
The ministry’s statement came a day after the three Western powers separately expressed concerns about the fairness and transparency of the vote, which was marred by allegations of interference, irregularities, and violence.
The elections, held on Thursday, were for 265 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament The main contest was between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led its jailed leader Imran Khan. Both parties claimed victory, but the official results have not been announced yet.
The United States and the European Union both called for a thorough investigation into the reports of problems during the voting process, including the arrests of activists, the intimidation of voters, and the manipulation of results.
“We are surprised by the negative tone of some of these statements, which neither take into account the complexity of the electoral process nor acknowledge the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis,” the foreign ministry said.
“These statements ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections, peacefully and successfully, while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign sponsored terrorism,” it added.
The ministry also denied that there was a nationwide Internet shutdown on the election day, saying that only mobile services were suspended for security reasons. It said that Pakistan reported 56 incidents of violence, which killed 16 people and injured 54 others, but that these were “isolated” and did not affect the overall conduct of the elections.
The ministry said that Pakistan held the elections as part of its commitment to building a stable and democratic society, and that it valued constructive advice from its friends, but not negative commentary.
“Pakistan will continue to work toward building a vibrant democratic polity. Every election and peaceful transition of power brings us closer to that goal. We do this not on account of the concerns expressed by others but because that is the aspiration of our people and the vision of our founding fathers,” it said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan blocked access to social media platform X, on Saturday.
NetBlocks, an internet monitor, confirmed that X was disrupted nationwide, affecting millions of users who rely on the service for news and communication. The move came amid growing protests by the various parties, which accused the election commission of rigging the vote.
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