Pakistan's January polls already rigged: UN rights envoy

[HAIDER]

Is it our national responsibility to pass personal assumptions to west, just to impress and degrade the nation?Thanks to Hina for giving bad name to Pakistanies...

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (AFP): A UN human rights envoy on Thursday told US lawmakers not to send any delegation to monitor the upcoming election in Pakistan, claiming that it was already rigged by President Musharraf. “There is no point in monitoring the elections or watching the poll - the rigging has already happened,” said Hina Jilani, a prominent Pakistani attorney who is also the UN special envoy for human rights defenders. She made the remarks after lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on the political crisis in Pakistan sought her opinion on the prospect of monitoring the January 8 polls to elect a new parliament. “Freedom of assembly is totally curtailed, freedom of expression is curtailed,” Jilani said. “Under these conditions, the election that is going to take place on January 8 has very little credibility.” Earlier, Democratic lawmakers Sheila Jackson Lee and Jim Moran told Jilani they were considering the possibility of going to Pakistan as part of a Congressional delegation to monitor the election process. (Posted @ 10:20 PST)
- DAWN - Latest Stories; December 14, 2007

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

It maybe too sensational to call it rigging, but in an election unless those who are standing for election are allowed to express their views or if people are not allowed to gather to hear such election speech, then the election is not conforming to the structure of a democracy or a democratic norm.

Is it true that those standing for election are not being allowed to give election speeches or people not being allowed to assemble to hear these chaps standing for election?

 

[roadrunner]

Salim, a little google searching on your part would show that Bhutto and NS are giving speeches all over the country.

"By that the official meant Ms. Bhutto’s insistence on holding a rally, General Musharraf’s decision to barricade her in her house, and the subsequent speech by Ms. Bhutto to the nation that was broadcast on official Pakistani television."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/asia/10policy.html

Bhutto, in her speech to party activists in Peshawar, also reiterated accusations that the authorities planned to rig the coming election. She said her party still planned to participate, however.

"It was a difficult decision whether to participate in elections or not, because our sympathizers have informed us that the government plans to fix the vote," she told the cheering crowd.
Pakistan's Bhutto launches election campaign despite opposition calls for boycott - International Herald Tribune

NS has been allowed to campaign too. The question is why? They're both convicted criminals. They don't deserve airtime, so it's a desperate election system that's being run. And now these clowns don't even want foreign observers in a sel pitiful statement to the world, that their fighting a losing cause, if only you'd help them. Instead of thinking about it from their own position, they should think about it from the Pakistani people's position, and welcome any sort of foreign observers into the country, so that they can come to their own conclusions. Unless they don't want them to see something.

Anyhow, who cares what Hina Jilani thinks. She's sister of Asma Jehangir, who got herself arrested during the lawyer saga. They seem to think that inventing stuff that goes "against whichever leadership", makes them free thinkers and will get them their prominent positions in the UN. She's also a lawyer. Before casting the allegations at another institution (the government), she should look at the judiciary itself. There's huge corruption in there. I haven't heard her bleating on about the judicary though. Just because she has "UN" in her title doesn't make her neutral in the slightest.

Why on earth tell anyone not to send a delegation to Pakistan? That's called a very open election.

 

[HAIDER]

Musharraf weighing key concessions to smooth fraught elections ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (AP): President Musharraf may suspend local mayors and scrap a two-term limit for prime ministers as concessions to blunt criticism that Pakistan's elections will be rigged, Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said Friday. Musharraf is considering whether to grant an opposition demand for the suspension of local mayors to prevent them from influencing the vote, Qayyum said. ''This is under the active consideration of the government and a decision I think is likely to be taken today or tomorrow,'' Qayyum said on Dawn News television. ''I think now it's for the president to decide.'' President Musharraf may also lift a ban on anyone serving more than twice as prime minister, Qayyum said. (Posted @ 13:25 PST)
WWW.DAWN.COM

 

[blain2]

Another surrender on a good thing...first the thieves are back in the running for the PM's office and now the local mayors (who have done quite a bit at the local level) will be fired to make the b**** happy.

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

RR,

Good old NS and BB are the only candidates or are they/
?

The issue is whether the others are being allowed and whether people are allowed to assemble.

If that was the case, then why is this person complaining of rigging?

Something wrong, some where.

And what about what Haider has posted?

I would say not a comfortable feeling!

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

RR,

Good old NS and BB are the only candidates or are they/
?

The issue is whether the others are being allowed and whether people are allowed to assemble.

If that was the case, then why is this person complaining of rigging?

Something wrong, some where.

And what about what Haider has posted?

I would say not a comfortable feeling!

Why is BB complaining about "rigging" every chance she gets when she is out freely electioneering? If she is "freely electioneering", then the HR activist is incorrect in how she justifies her accusations ( and as far as the "others" - if you read the newspapers, their campaigns are buried nowhere close to the front page, so lack of coverage does not indicate a lack of "freedom of assembly").

As far as BB's accusations, Asim outlined the series of electoral reforms Musahrraf has instituted, according to BB's wishes, precisely to reduce the threat of "rigging". So either BB or you have to explain how exactly this "rigging" is going to occur if those reforms are implemented.

Quite sad if Musharraf does cave into dropping the 3 term ban and LG Govt's.

 

[HAIDER]

Well now people have feeling, lawyers and journalist are getting too personal with Musharraf. Even anything he does good, they portray as ill intention approach from Musharraf. Don't we need to mobilize all democratic means to settle the score. Or fill the lines of media with personal assumptions and hate against one man. Specially when Pakistani nationals approach world democratic forum, just to show their organization credibility.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Constitutional package ready: AG​

By Nasir Iqbal


ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: A constitutional package to take the country back to the pre-emergency situation was ready with five presidential orders to be issued on Saturday, Attorney General Malik Mohammad Qayyum said here on Thursday.

The presidential orders are: Revocation of Proclamation of Emergency Order 2007, Repeal of Provisional Constitution Order, Revival of Constitutional Order, Establishment of Islamabad High Court and grant of pension benefits to judges who had either refused or had not been invited by the government to take the oath under the PCO.

Talking to media personnel at the Supreme Court, he said that with the lifting of the emergency and the repeal of the PCO, all fundamental rights would stand restored and the media would be the greatest beneficiary.

After the revival of the Constitution, the attorney general said, chief justices and judges of the Supreme Court, Federal Shariat Court and high courts would have to take a fresh oath under the 1973 Constitution.

About appointment of new judges in the high courts to fill vacant posts, Mr Qayyum said the age of high court judges was being reduced to 40 years from 45 to enable young lawyers to become judges of high courts. During the Gen Ziaul Haq period, he said, judges of the age of 40 years had been appointed to the high courts and he himself had been appointed to the Lahore High Court at that age.

He refuted reports that a law was being formulated to rein in the judiciary by allowing the president to send any judge on forced leave and said that no change was being made in Article 209 (Supreme Judicial Council) of the Constitution for accountability of the superior court judges. He said the retirement age of the Chief Justice of Pakistan was also not being reduced.

“All judges of the superior courts who were not invited by the government to take oath under the PCO, or those who had declined to do so, will not be restored at all,” the attorney general said.

However, he said, deposed judges, including Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, would be granted pension benefits like the judges who had refused to take the oath under the PCO in 2000.

Mr Qayyum said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif stood disqualified for the January 8 election. Shahbaz Sharif, he added, had not appealed against the rejection of his candidature during the stipulated time, so he also stood disqualified.

He said the Islamabad High Court would start functioning on Jan 7 next year. The constitutional bar on a person to become prime minister for the third time would stay, he said.

The attorney general also denied that a proposal was under consideration to suspend local government administrators for the general elections as being demanded by some political parties.

However, he said that in his personal view if local government functionaries could influence the elections they should be suspended till completion of the electoral process.
Constitutional package ready: AG -DAWN - Top Stories; December 14, 2007

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Whats going on here? Did the AG change his mind in a matter of hours?

 

[mujahideen]

I dont believe that she is a true Pakistani. Shame on her. It is really shameful when our own people want others to get involved. If she cares about the country so much then she should go back to Pakistan, and I personally think that the ISI should deal with her in such a way that she is made an example to all who dare of defaming Pakistan. I personally think out of the all of the opposition leaders I think the Justice(r) Waji-uh-Din Ahmed is a true Pakistani. When they asked him if he thought that foreign aid to Pakistan should be cut, he said that it wasn't in our national interest. He said by doing that only the people of Pakistan will suffer. Even though I support President Musharraf, I personally believe that no matter who is in government, the opposition should not be allowed to defame the country like Jilani has done.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

I dont believe that she is a true Pakistani. Shame on her. It is really shameful when our own people want others to get involved. If she cares about the country so much then she should go back to Pakistan, and I personally think that the ISI should deal with her in such a way that she is made an example to all who dare of defaming Pakistan. I personally think out of the all of the opposition leaders I think the Justice(r) Waji-uh-Din Ahmed is a true Pakistani. When they asked him if he thought that foreign aid to Pakistan should be cut, he said that it wasn't in our national interest. He said by doing that only the people of Pakistan will suffer. Even though I support President Musharraf, I personally believe that no matter who is in government, the opposition should not be allowed to defame the country like Jilani has done.

I agree...

So many bills are being passed but none to keep the mouth of such Pakistanis shut. Just to make matter worse in Pakistan such people will go to any lenghts to speek their BS.

Maybe she is a N league B****.