This year's Pakistan elections record lowest fairness score since 2013: Report
NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) recently released a report indicating that the February 8 Pakistan elections recorded the lowest fairness score since 2013, as reported by Dawn. The assessment of the 2024 general elections, conducted independently by PILDAT, incorporated input from politicians, lawyers, activists, retired bureaucrats, military officials, and politically aware youth, using a questionnaire to score various aspects.
The evaluation focused on three phases: the pre-polling process, election day polling and post-polling processes. Issues flagged in the report included political repression, the suspension of mobile and internet services on polling delays for Forms 45, 46, 48, and 49 on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) website, and a delay in allocating reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council. During the pre-poll phase, concerns were raised about the impartiality of key institutions such as the judiciary, the ECP, caretaker governments and intelligence agencies. The report disclosed that the pre-poll phase scored 50%, matching the 2018 election but falling short of the 62% scored in the 2013 election.
The overall score for the second phase stood at 40%, equivalent to the 2018 election score but notably lower than the 2013 election score of 50%. This phase assessed the voting process and vote counting. The post-poll phase also garnered a 40% score, representing an "all-time low" and mirroring the 2002 general election score, which witnessed unprecedented post-poll rigging in recent years, as noted in the report.