Pakistan’s upcoming Parliamentary polls will be “massively rigged”, according to a purported audio recording of Attorney General Malik Qayyum.
If no party wins a clear majority, it enables Musharraf to form a coalition of his choiceLAHORE: As Pakistan gears up for elections on February 18, a brief assessment by Pakistan intelligence agencies shows that the polls are likely to culminate into a hung parliament.
With election fever gripping the nation, opposition circles feel polls will be rigged to ensure that opposition parties, especially former premier Benazir Bhutto’s PPP and the PML-N, do not get a clear majority. Such a situation would allow Musharraf to cobble together a coalition of his choice.
The estimates prepared by a clandestine election cell, headed by a retired Brigadier of the ISI and presently working in tandem with the Intelligence Bureau (IB), show that the PPP is expected to win a majority of National Assembly seats — 95, followed by the Musharraf-back Pakistan Muslim League (Q) — 70.
These estimates have been made on the basis of the electoral strength of each political party and the candidate’s own ability to pull voters.
According to the assessment of the 272 regular seats of the 342-house where elections are due to take place in the four provinces, FATA and Islamabad Capital Territory, the PPP and the PML (Q) are expected to emerge as potential players seeking to form the next government.
The PPP leadership is more inclined towards the Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) to form a coalition government in the post election scenario.
The PML-N is expected to win 50 seats, the Altaf-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) could bag 20 seats, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is likely to
win 20 seats, the Awami National Party (ANP) is expected to win 12 seats while the remaining seven seats are expected to be won by independent candidates.
‘Polls will be rigged’Pakistan’s upcoming Parliamentary polls will be “massively rigged”, according to a purported audio recording of Attorney General Malik Qayyum.
In the recording released by a leading US-based human rights group, Qayyum appeared to be advising an unidentified person on what political party the person should approach to become a candidate in the February 18 general election.
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