News
March 15, 2024
US Congressional Committee to Hold Hearing on Pakistan Election
Washington: A US Congressional committee has announced that it will hold a hearing on March 20 on the recently held elections in Pakistan after over two dozen lawmakers expressed concern over the fairness of the polls.
The title of the hearing is “Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship.”The announcement on the hearing on Pakistan scheduled for March 20 comes after more than two dozen lawmakers expressed concerns over the fairness of the February 8 polls. The elections were marred by allegations of vote rigging. Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party says the new government was formed by stealing its mandate.
Though more than 90 independent candidates backed by Khan's PTI won the maximum number of seats in the National Assembly, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto struck a post-poll deal and formed a coalition government last week.Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu has been asked to testify before the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Lu’s alleged involvement in the cipher controversy adds significance to his testimony. The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Lu and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year. Khan alleged that Lu threatened to destabilize his government during a March 2022 meeting. The US consistently dismisses these allegations as unfounded.
On March 20, the House Foreign Affairs Committee is also scheduled to consider a resolution that expresses support for democracy and human rights in Pakistan. – Deccan Herald
Courtesy Deccan Herald
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