Before elections
Pakistan’s Supreme Court restricts opposition party
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is chairman of the opposition party PTI. photo
© KM Chaudary/AP/dpa
After the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s opposition has been massively weakened. Now the Supreme Court has drastically restricted its PTI party just a few weeks before the parliamentary elections.
As a result, hundreds of PTI politicians now have to run as independent candidates. This means that the more than 100 million eligible voters in the populous South Asian country will find it difficult to find their favorites in the election on February 8th. Party members condemned the decision. A close confidant of the former prime minister even spoke of “sham elections” in the nuclear power.
“It is difficult to overstate the importance of electoral symbols in Pakistan and the challenge this poses to the PTI. Another major blow to the party,” wrote Pakistan expert Madiha Afzal on X (formerly Twitter). “Another example of the judiciary serving the establishment.”
Pakistan’s opposition has been massively weakened following the conviction and imprisonment of the popular Imran Khan. Activists have been warning about unfree elections for weeks. Since the state was founded in 1947, there has been repeated unrest and instability in the South Asian country, which lies between India and Afghanistan. The military ruled for more than half of this time.