Tag: pakistan election

Asif Ali Zardari | Return of the survivor

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In the blood-smeared history of Pakistani politics, top leaders rarely emerge from prison unscathed. Deposed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was imprisoned and hanged in Rawalpindi district jail. His daughter Benazir Bhutto was in jail and had to leave the country, seeking medical treatment. She came back and got assassinated. Imran Khan is currently in jail and only the future will tell how his story will unfold.

But there is one leader who emerged stronger after multiple jail terms — Asif Ali Zardari, the undisputed leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the current head of the Zardari-Bhutto dynasty.

With a bit of help from destiny, Mr. Zardari, who had spent 11 years in jail in the past, could be the next President of the country as his party has sealed a deal with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which will hold the post of Prime Minister. This is not the first time Mr. Zardari’s destiny is being changed dramatically. On a wintry evening on December 27, 2007, an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Benazir Bhutto. Within hours, Mr. Zardari, who was then in Dubai with their three children, Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa, was on a flight to Pakistan.


Also read: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | His mother’s son 

At a meeting, of the central executive of the PPP in Naudero, Sindh, Mr. Zardari asked son Bilawal to read a ‘political will’ from Benazir that declared that “my husband Asif Ali Zardari” would lead the party in her absence. Bilawal was too young at 19 to inherit her legacy and, therefore, Mr. Zardari would take the reins. No one had heard of such a political will, not even Benazir’s old secretary Naheed Khan. Yet, the rule of Mr. Zardari was established over the PPP.

Mr. Zardari, a polo player from a family that was known for owning the Bambino cinema of Karachi, came into national limelight after his 1987 wedding to the then ‘daughter of the east’ Benazir Bhutto. The wedding was a memorable affair and was attended by political guests from different parts of South Asia and Europe.

Within months, the hands of destiny would alter the life of the couple when Gen. Zia ul Haq’s aircraft, Pak-1, mysteriously crashed in Bahawalpur, catapulting Benazir to her first prime ministerial stint. Benazir’s first (1988-’90) and second (1993-’96) tenures as PM were tumultuous as they coincided with the end of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, end of the Cold War and the intensification of the Kashmir crisis and cross-border terrorism in South Asia.

Two murders

In 1996, two murders took place that would shape the course of the Bhutto-Zardari destinies. On September 20, Murtaza Bhutto, elder brother of Benazir, was shot dead outside 70 Clifton, the residence where Zulfikar Ali Bhutto once lived. During the 1980s, the elder brother had led an international terrorist organisation called Al Zulfikar and lived for years in Syria and Libya, seeking revenge against Gen. Zia. The youngest of the Bhuttos, Shahnawaz, a leading commander of Al Zulfikar, was allegedly murdered in Nice, France, in 1985.

When Benazir became PM in 1988, Murtaza felt disinherited and developed a visceral dislike for his brother-in-law. On December 16, 1996, Mr. Zardari and Murtaza ended up flying in the same aircraft from Islamabad to Karachi. It was reported later that Murtaza’s body guards “kept glaring” at Mr. Zardari throughout the flight. That experience so terrified Mr. Zardari that instead of going to his house, he went to his father Hakim Ali Zardari’s house to seek safety. Two days later, Mr. Zardari, also known as ‘Mr 10 Percent’ because of corruption allegations, held a meeting with top officials to complain about Murtaza, which added to the allegations of his complicity in the murder of Murtaza.

The killings marked the beginning of the end of Benazir’s second term, which was replaced by a caretaker government in November 1996, paving the way for the 1997 election after which Nawaz Sharif became PM. Mr. Zardari first went to jail in 1990 on corruption charges and then again after the second term of Benazir, and was released in 2004. Mr. Zardari carved a political niche for himself within the party, starting with 1990 when he was elected to the National Assembly (NA) for the first time. He contested and won from jail and his release was one of the major issues for the PPP under Benazir and he later became Minister of Investment after Benazir returned to power in 1993.

As Benazir returned to Pakistan after nearly six years of exile in October 2007, Mr. Zardari gave her staff instruction to keep her safe as she was attacked within hours of her arrival. The military government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf blamed Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, for the attack but the evidences from the spot were allegedly cleared by authorities, creating a strong suspicion about the incident that took place on October 18, 2007. Mr. Zardari tracked his wife on live TV from Dubai and screamed orders to keep her safe. She was downstairs in the armoured bus that was specially prepared and therefore survived. On December 27, however, the assassins succeeded, prompting Mr. Zardari to take up the leadership role.

Mr. Zardari proved his survival instincts when he completed his five-year term as President of Pakistan. His tenure was jolted within months by the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and internal political tumult led by Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). Mr. Khan built his movement on the anti-American sentiment that flourished in Pakistan because of the drone attacks against Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but Mr. Zardari maintained a cautious silence on the issue of U.S.-Pakistan collaboration.

Backroom player

After his presidential term was over, Mr. Zardari indulged in backroom negotiations to maintain the party unity and presented himself as a veteran who is open to reconciliation. As the Imran Khan government came to a halt after his hurried February 24, 2022 visit to Moscow that coincided with the launch of Russia’s military campaign against Ukraine, Mr. Zardari once again found the playfield open for himself.

The election of 2024 has been controversial and marred by dramatic in-camera allegations of rigging. However, Pakistani politics is no stranger to rigging and Mr. Zardari himself knows it best as the election of 1997, which brought Nawaz Sharif to power, was bitterly criticised by his party at that time for alleged rigging. It remains to be seen if Imran Khan, who is in jail will, concede defeat and allow the new coalition government to start afresh, addressing the several challenges Pakistan is facing, including economic woes.

At the time of 2013 election, former Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had asked the country to vote for reconciliation, ending the war with the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan’s present security situation is precarious as it deals with internal volatility and worsening ties with the Taliban in Kabul and Iran, with which it exchanged missiles in January. It’s doubtless that in the new formation, Mr. Zardari would stay as the tallest leader. But the challenges he would face may well be the toughest of his 33-year old political career.

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PML-N nominates Shehbaz Sharif as Pakistan’s Prime Minister

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In a surprise development, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz on Tuesday nominated its president Shehbaz Sharif as the prime ministerial candidate of Pakistan instead of the party supremo and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Taking to X, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, 74, has nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif, 72, a candidate for the slot of prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, 50, for chief minister of Punjab province.

“Nawaz Sharif has thanked the political parties which provided support to the PML-N (in forming the upcoming government) and expressed hope that through such decisions Pakistan will come out of crises,” she said.

The development comes a few hours after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari withdrew from the prime ministerial race, saying his party would support ex-premier Nawaz without being part of the new government.

Despite independent candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party springing a surprise by winning the most seats in Parliament, questions were looming over what the next government of Pakistan will look like five days after the general elections.

None of the three major parties, the PML-N, the PPP, or the PTI have won the necessary seats in the February 8 general elections to secure a majority in the National Assembly and, therefore, will be unable to form government on their own, leading to a hung Parliament.

PML-N reportedly enjoys the backing of the powerful Pakistan Army.

Addressing a press conference here after the meeting of the PPP’s high-powered Central Executive Committee (CEC), held under his leadership, Bilawal has said the reality is that his party does not have a mandate to form a federal government.

“Due to this, I will not be putting myself forward for the candidacy of the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” the 35-year-old former foreign minister said, adding that PML-N and the independents have greater numbers in the Centre.

Earlier in the day, former Prime Minister Shehbaz reaffirmed that Nawaz will become the Prime Minister for a record fourth time.

“I had said that Nawaz Sharif would become Prime Minister for the fourth time. And I maintain today that he is going to be the PM for the fourth time,” Shehbaz told a press conference.

Shehbaz said he has spoken to Bilawal and his father Asif Ali Zardari and thanked them for their support to Nawaz Sharif.

“We hope that together we will be able to get Pakistan out of all political and economic crises, Inshallah,” he posted on X.

The PML-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have also held a meeting on Tuesday on government formation.

Both parties agreed to move forward with mutual cooperation and Shehbaz Sharif thanked the MQM-P, which has 17 lawmakers in Parliament for its support.

Bilawal noted that Imran Khan’s PTI had refused to form a coalition with the PPP which left the PML-N as the only party that had invited the PPP to join the government.

Khan on Tuesday dismissed the idea of forming a coalition government with any of the main political parties in Pakistan and termed them as the “biggest money launderers” being brought to power.

The 71-year-old Khan, also the founder of PTI, was speaking with journalists at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Khan and many of his party colleagues are lodged in jail for many months in connection with convictions in multiple cases.

“There can be no alliance with PML-N, PPP, and MQM,” he said, adding that he had directed PTI Information Secretary Raouf Hasan to bring together all parties except the three parties.

Khan also warned his political rivals against the “misadventure” of forming a government with “stolen votes”.

Khan, in a message on his official X handle, posted from jail through his family, said: “I warn against the misadventure of forming a government with stolen votes. Such daylight robbery will not only be a disrespect to the citizens, but will also push the country’s economy further into a downward spiral.” Khan, said, “PTI will never compromise on people’s will, and I have categorically instructed my party against engaging with any political party that has robbed people’s mandate, including PPP, PMLN & MQM.” Earlier, Bilawal said the PPP has decided that “we may not be a part of the government but we will engage with political parties on the issue of votes and the election of prime minister.” He said that the PPP would help to form a stable government without being part of it.

“To that end, the PPP will be willing to support the case of important votes – a candidate of the PM of Pakistan – and issue to issue basis to ensure that the government is formed and political stability is restored,” Bilawal said.

Bilawal said he would like to see his 68-year-old father Asif Ali Zardari become the president once again. Zardari, husband of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto was the president from 2008 to 2013.

“I am not saying this because he is my father. I am saying this because the country is in a huge crisis at the moment and if anyone has the capacity to douse this fire, it is Asif Ali Zardari,” he asserted.

In response to a question, Bilawal said all political forces needed to think about the country and end the politics of division. “They must not just think about themselves […] this way the enemies of the country would want to benefit from this crisis.” “It takes two to tango,” he said.

To form a government, a party must win 133 seats out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.

Other parties got 17 seats while the result of one constituency was withheld.

Meanwhile, a senior official of Khan’s party said it will use the platform of two rightwing religious parties in its bid to form government in the Centre as well as in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has decided to join Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) to form the government in the Centre and Punjab and Jamaati-e-Islami (JI) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” PTI Information Secretary Hassan said while addressing a press conference.

Hassan said the PTI was redoubling its efforts to make a government in the Centre and Punjab.

However, it is believed that by joining the two parties, the PTI will not be able to gather enough strength to form either the federal or provincial government in Punjab. PTI can form a government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even without the support of any other party.

In a setback to PTI, a Pakistani court on Tuesday dismissed more than 30 petitions filed by Khan’s party-backed independent candidates who challenged the “sham victory” of top PML-N leaders, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

The Lahore High Court while dismissing the petitions asked the defeated PTI-backed candidates to move to the Election Commission of Pakistan for the redressal of their grievances. 

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Watch | Pakistan elections | A new dawn or more of the same?

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Pakistan prepares for political chaos as election results suggest a surge in favour of Imran Khan’s candidates– but with no clear winner yet, can the man seen as the military’s choice- Nawaz Sharif still forge a government?

Results are trickling in from Pakistan’s election nearly 24 hours later- which itself is news, as normally results are done within 8 or 9 hours of the polls closing- leading to fears of electoral manipulations further. Whatever else is in doubt- this is certainly not the easy win that many had predicted for Nawaz Sharif

I’m not going to confuse you by giving figures that may get dates- what we will try to do is look at the broad trends, what possible outcomes there could be- what that means for Pakistan, and then how that changes the course if at all for the rest of the region, especially India.

So first- Heres what you need to know about Pakistan elections and what they voted for

1. Pakistan holds elections for 266 seats of the National Assembly or parliament- , and State assembly elections. The National Assembly has 336 seats in all- 60 are reserved for women, 10 for minorities which are nominated by parties in proportion to their seats.

2. 134 seats are needed by a party or a coalition to be invited to form government- an if you look at the number of seats, it is easy to see how Punjab state is the main decider of the National government- here is the break up of seats:

Punjab – 141 seats

Sindh- 61 seats

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa- 45 seats

Balochistan- 16 seats

Islamabad Capital Territory- 3 seats

3. Provincial or State Assembly elections for Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies are also expected- broad trends appear to give Sindh to the Pakistan People’s Party, KPK to Independents affilitated to Imran Khan, while Punjab is seeing many wins by Independents, but Sharif’s PML-N as the biggest party and likely to form the state assembly. It should also be noted that while Independents were winning by large leads across the country overnight- by the next afternoon- it seemed many of the results turned in favour of PML-N

Now what’s different about these elections?

  1. Former PM Imran Khan is in jail- and still very popular… he was disqualified from standing after being charged with corruption, misappropriation and a case of national security. He has not been able to campaign, or speak to supporters, and has used AI and other innovative means to reach voters. On voting day, the government suspended the internet, and telephone communications were down, leading to more allegations that this was an attempt to manage the outcome.
  2. While leaders of major parties have often been in jail during elections – this is the first time since 2008 where a political party itself has been stopped from campaigning- Imran Khan’s PTI has lost not just its recognition, but also its party symbol the cricket bat- and as a result had to put up candidates with different symbols.
  3. Nawaz Sharif- former PM, who had earlier been disqualified and sentenced to prison has been given protection from arrest, and a waiver of the charges against him that allowed him to return to Pakistan after 4 years
  4. Analysts say this election in 2024 is the mirror image of the 2018 elections- when Imran Khan won the elections, while Nawaz Sharif was convicted and sentenced to prison.
  5. But what has made this election truly different is this- that the PTI has not given up standing for elections despite the restrictions, that people have registered a strong turnout despite the cynicism, and the votes for a record number of independents show that there was both a political and public resistance to the outcome that was seen as the military establishment’s favourite for this election 

Possible Outcomes of the Pakistan vote :

  1. A hung assembly in which no party wins a clear majority, and even the PML-N and the PPP are not able to forge a winning coalition- leading to long term chaos
  2. Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N goes ahead and stakes claim to form government, if it is the biggest party. It then manages to win a confidence vote by turning Independents to shift their allegiance from the PTI to PML
  3. Even the PPP has a path to power as it could be seen as the lesser of two evils by Imran Khan affiliated independents
  4. The PTI’s Independents sign support for one of their leaders and form a coalition of their own. Remember, the President, who has to invite the next PM to form a government is still Arif Alvi, from the PTI party.

Each of these outcomes could see a massive backlash on the streets, or even from establishment backed militia- and the violence could take a turn for the worse.

-The last such elections- where East Pakistan’s Mujib ur Rahman won elections in 1970 but this was not accepted by then President Yahya Khan- eventually led to protests and violence that saw the creation of Bangladesh a year later

-Elections in the post-Zia Ul Haq period in 1993-1996 and from 2008-2018 have all seen the military range in favour of one or other party- leading to them being called selections not elections. Even so, the results have more or less been accepted in the past, and the question, will these elections see a pushback?

-In 2013, Imran Khan began a nationwide campaign against the election results where Sharif won- and that led to a change in government…Remember, no Pakistan PM has ever completed a full term in office- due mainly to the military’s interference

Impact for region and India:

  1. Concerns about Pakistan heading into political chaos- causing regional instability with Pakistan’s unstable borders with Iran, Afghanistan and India
  2. Pakistan’s economy has been in free fall, and confidence in its recovery may plunge further. With uncertainty over the elections, Markets at the Karachi Stock Exchange dropped 2,000 points on Friday morning.
  3. In particular, the questions over an IMF default, and a greater dependence on China- that holds an estimated $67 billion in loans to Pakistan at present- will push Pakistan even further into an economic collapse
  4. A spike in terrorism ahead of elections- blasts in Balochistan that saw dozens killed just before polls, as well as TTP attacks in Khyber Pukthunkhwa could spill over in the rest of the region
  5. In a subcontinent where Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka are all due for elections- the appearance of manipulated elections tars the entire neighbourhood 

WV Take:

From the start, the elections in Pakistan have been seen as an unfair match- where one side, the PTI arguably the most popular had to run the election- without their captain, without their bat, without a level playing field, and the Umpire ruling against them at every turn. While that will only increase the cynicism worldwide over democracy in Pakistan, pragmatism may involve forging some kind of engagement with whoever is the power in a country, as New Delhi has done with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Over all, it may be best to do nothing at all until the dust settles on these very contested election results

READING RECOMMENDATIONS:

  1. Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan by Ajay Bisaria
  2. The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Divided Nation Paperback – 2 November 2021 by Declan Walsh
  3. The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics by Ayesha Jalal
  4. The People Next Door: The Curious History of India-Pakistan Relations by T.C.A. Raghavan
  5. Neither a Hawk nor a Dove : An Insiders Account Of Pakistans Foreign Policy by Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri

 Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar

Production: Gayatri Menon and Shibu Narayan

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As Pakistan goes to elections, farmers want climate change action, not words

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Tending to his wilting wheat crop after months of drought and smog, Pakistani farmer Aamer Hayat Bhandara said his biggest hope for the general election is that whoever wins makes good on a flurry of campaign promises to tackle climate change. Pakistan goes to polls on February 8.

The two frontrunners – the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) – have both proposed similar climate policies in their manifestos, highlighting growing concern about the effects of global warming after devastating 2022 floods.

Changing climate patterns

“The smog and absence of rain for three consecutive months robbed crops of sunlight…and caused rust — or fungal infection — on wheat,” said Mr. Bhandara, 38, a farmer in Punjab province and co-founder of the Agriculture Republic think-tank, which represents small- and medium-scale farmers.

He said changing climate patterns had shortened winters and stretched summers, with heatwaves impacting his rice and corn crops, while untimely rains and hailstorms have battered his wheat harvests. That made the parties’ promises for climate action – from boosting renewable energy to investing in early warning systems for floods and heatwaves – welcome reading for him and other farmers at the sharp end of climate change.

“The pledges are wonderful,” Mr. Bhandara said. “Heightened climate action not only holds the potential to ease economic pressures but also to generate employment opportunities.” He added, however, that “the crux of the challenge is to translate these policies into action”.

Pakistan produces less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, but ranks 8th among countries most vulnerable to extreme weather linked to climate change, according to the latest edition of the Global Climate Risk Index.

Homes are surrounded by floodwaters in Sohbat Pur city, a district of Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, Aug. 29, 2022.
| Photo Credit:
AP

The floods in 2022 killed more than 1,700 people, displaced 8 million and destroyed about a million homes and livelihoods across the country of 220 million – fuelling calls for the Government to prioritise the fight against climate change.

Politicians promise to fight climate change

Outlining his party’s plans to overhaul Pakistan’s development model to stabilise its troubled economy, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told Reuters this month his strategy would put “the threat of climate change front and centre”.

He said the PPP also aims to ensure global funds exceeding $10 billion pledged last year to help Pakistan rebound from the floods are used to fight climate change.

Similarly, the PMLN has vowed to use the funds to implement the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Framework, dubbed 4RF, a recovery strategy to build long-term climate resilience and adaptation developed with international organisations.

The party’s proposals also include strict enforcement of environmental protection laws, upgrading brick kilns to fight air pollution, and planting native tree species to curb the use of fertilisers, reduce soil erosion and save water, among others.

Party president Shehbaz Sharif has described climate change as a “development, economic, human and national security issue”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), left in disarray by the jailing and election ban on its leader Imran Khan last month, has not released its manifesto yet.

Implementation is key, say activists

Economists warn that a lack of adequate measures to fight the effects of climate change could deal another blow to a cash-strapped economy already grappling with historic inflation and an unstable rupee.

A 2022 World Bank report highlighted Pakistan’s staggering financial requirements to combat climate-induced disasters, estimating a $300 billion gap in available funds.

Without urgent action, climate change could shave off one-fifth of GDP, it said.

But Ahmad Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer and activist, said the frontrunners’ election manifestos neglected the economic effects of climate change. “The transformative effects that [the] climate crisis brings to our economy such as the effects on the market economy of agriculture, coastal resources, energy, forestry, tourism, and water are overlooked,” he said. Authorities often fail to implement their policies, he added.

Despite Government pledges to boost clean energy, Pakistan’s renewable energy growth has lagged — rising from 0% of total power generation capacity in 2010 to 5.7% in 2023, while the global average went from 2% to 12% over the same period.

Part of the challenge stems from the fact that critical sectors such as agriculture, water, transport, energy, urban development and forestry fall under provincial government control.

“Climate governance necessitates a tailored, province-specific approach rather than a federal, one-size-fits-all strategy,” Mr. Alam said by phone from the city of Lahore.

Others have voiced concern that the party manifestos pay scant attention to communities displaced by climate-related disasters or those in climate hotspots including low-lying coastal areas and mountainous regions threatened by glacial melting.

‘We risk losing everything’

But environmental activists and farmers have broadly welcomed the focus on climate issues for the first time in this year’s election campaign.

In a village near Chichawatni in Pakistan’s cotton-growing belt, farmer Jawwad Nawaz, 32, said the PMLN’s manifesto represents “a lifeline for the agricultural community”, adding that he hopes the proposed policies translate into tangible support for farmers.

Lahore-based climate activist Mawra Muzaffar said she had seen progress in Sindh province under the PPP that showed what could be achieved — from growing mangroves to importing electric buses. The PMLN’s vows to boost the use of clean energy in agriculture through solar panels are realistic and feasible, she said. “Moreover, it talks about a 10% reduction in carbon emissions, which if achieved will be very important,” she added.

In his village in Pakpattan district, Bhandara said the success of such policies must go hand-in-hand with climate adaptation measures for farmers.

His think-tank, and Digital Dera, a tech startup, is calling for the establishment of a national fund for research, innovation, resilience, and financial security for farmers. “Farmers need support for adaptation, and the Government must bear the cost of these measures,” he said, calling for urgent action to implement such policies.

“We can’t afford to waste time when it comes to climate change…Otherwise, we risk losing everything – including our food security and livelihoods,” he said, before hurrying off to meet an election candidate visiting his village.

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New party, face of Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s banned group, to participate in Pakistan general election

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A new political party named Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, believed to be a new face of the banned groups of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, will participate in the February 8 general elections, according to a media report.

A BBC Urdu report said some of the candidates nominated by this organisation from different cities of Pakistan are those who are either relatives of Hafiz Saeed or have been associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) or Milli Muslim League (MML) in the past.

Saeed, who has been incarcerated in a jail in Lahore, has been sentenced to a total of 31 years by Pakistan’s anti-terrorism courts in several cases of financing terrorism.

He was on December 10, 2008, included in the list of ‘global terrorists’ by the U.N.

Pakistan also listed LeT, JuD and its affiliated parties and institutions, including Khair Naas International Trust, Falah Insaniyat Foundation, Al-Anfal Trust, Khamtab Khalq Institution, Al-Dawwat Al-Arshad, Al-Hamad Trust, Al-Madinah Foundation and Mu’az bin Jabal Educational Trust, in the list of banned organisations.

Quoting analysts, who monitor religious parties in Pakistan, the report on Feb. 4 claimed the Markazi Muslim League is the ‘new political face’ of Saeed’s JuD.

A spokesman of the party, however, denied any affiliation with Saeed’s organisations.

The report said Saeed’s son Hafiz Talha Saeed is participating in the elections from the Markazi Muslim League party and contesting from National Assembly Constituency NA-122 in Lahore — the same constituency from which Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique is also contesting.

Similarly, Saeed’s son-in-law Hafiz Nek Gujjar is contesting the election from the Provincial Assembly constituency PP-162 on the ticket of the Markazi Muslim League.

In the past, a few people associated with Jamaat-ud-Dawa tried to participate in the elections in 2018 from the ‘Milli Muslim League’ party, but the Election Commission of Pakistan banned the organisation and rejected its application for registration after opposition from the then government.

After the application was rejected, the candidates of the party had to participate in the elections from an unknown party called ‘Allahu Akbar’ Tehreek which could not get any major success in the elections.

The name of ‘Milli Muslim League’ is not included in the list of banned parties in Pakistan, but in 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department, with the approval of the State Department, declared this party banned and seven people associated with it were included in the list of “global terrorists”.

The persons who were declared “international terrorists” by the U.S. included Saifullah Khalid, Muzamil Iqbal Hashmi, Muhammad Haris Dar, Tabish Qayyum, Fayyaz Ahmed, Faisal Nadeem and Muhammad Ehsan. They were accused of being part of the outlawed LeT.

Out of the seven members of the Milli Muslim League who were banned by the US, four of them are the nominees of the Makazi Muslim League for seats in the Punjab and Sindh assemblies.

Muhammad Fayyaz Ahmed and Faisal Nadeem Shaikh are contesting elections from Sindh Province on the provincial assembly seats PS-43 and PS-64, while Muhammad Haris Dar and Muzmal Iqbal Hashmi are contesting from the National Assembly constituencies NA-129 and NA-77 in Punjab Province.

Tabish Qayyum, included in the same list, is currently the main spokesman of the Markazi Muslim League, while Saifullah Khalid is also a part of the same party, but he does not hold any position.

Hanzala Imad, another spokesperson of the Markazi Muslim League, said, “None of our candidates is involved in any illegal activity and is not a part of any banned party.” Concerning the United States declaring some members of the Jamaat as terrorists in the past, he said, “No country has the right to declare people as terrorists without proof or legal procedures.” Pakistan’s caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, in response to the BBC‘s question about the participation of people who were part of JuD in the past in parliamentary politics, said it was not the mandate of the caretaker government to make major policy decisions, especially regarding general elections.

He also said the Election Commission of Pakistan allowed registered parties to contest elections and the caretaker government had no role in allowing or preventing any party from contesting elections.

The BBC sent questions to the spokesperson of the Election Commission, but no response was received from him.

Nadeem Ahmad Awan, a candidate for a provincial assembly seat from Karachi, told the BBC that his party had no connection with Hafiz Saeed, but said that since 2003, he had supported many charities in Pakistan and had been a member of political organisations including Saeed’s JuD and Falah-i-Insaniya Foundation.

He told BBC that the “Pakistan Markazi Central Muslim League is participating in the general elections of Pakistan for the first time and we have also released our manifesto before the elections”.

In response to the questions sent by the BBC, Hanzala Imad, the Press Secretary of the Markazi Muslim League, said there was no truth in the allegations that the party was supported by Saeed.

“Pakistan Markazi Central Muslim League is led by Khalid Masood Sindhu and it is a party registered in the Election Commission of Pakistan, whose election symbol is the chair,” he said.

Imad also said that his party was not related to any banned party or person and he had fielded more than 500 people, including women and youth, who belonged to different schools of thought across the country.

BBC quoted journalist and analyst Majid Nizami, who has a close eye on religious and political parties in Pakistan, as saying that the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League is the ‘new political face’ of Hafiz Saeed’s JuD.

“A few years ago, the state decided to bring jihadist organizations into the national mainstream and use them in the welfare and political sectors,” he said. In response to a question, Mr. Nizami said that he did not think that the party would get much acceptance in parliamentary politics.

Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, senior fellow at King’s College London and author, also agreed with Mr. Nizami and claimed that in the past, the policy of bringing such parties into the national mainstream was adopted by the army.
“It was imperative to take such steps because we wanted to show the world that we are not taking action against these people because they are coming into the mainstream,” she said.

“The JuD people have historically been ideologically opposed to the democratic system, but they were brought into politics to justify their presence,” she said.

On November 26, 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and in an indiscriminate fire killed 166 people, 18 of them security personnel, and injured several others during a 60-hour siege in Mumbai, India’s financial capital.

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