EU piles pressure on Imran Khan after Pakistan election

Observers noted ‘systematic attempts to undermine ruling party’ ahead of disputed vote

 A supporter of PTI party leader Imran Khan celebrates in Karachi. Photo by The Guardian.

The EU has piled further pressure on Pakistan’s likely next prime minister, Imran Khan, after his country’s disputed general election, noting a “lack of equality of opportunity” and “systematic attempts to undermine the ruling party” ahead of the vote.

Michael Gahler, the chief of the European Union election observer mission, told a press conference in Islamabad that his 120-strong team observed no rigging on election day – but in serious criticisms that will cast a shadow over the formation of the new PTI government, led by former international cricketer Khan, Gahler said that pressure on the media, “far stronger” efforts than usual to encourage switching parties, and “judicial conduct” had all negatively influenced the vote.

“We have concluded there was a lack of equality of opportunity,” he said, adding that the overall process was “not as good” as in 2013. The PML-N has long complained that its election chances were badly hurt long before polling got under way. More than 30 of its candidates left the party during the campaign and many alleged privately that they had been pressured by Pakistan’s ISI spy agency.

On Friday, the PML-N appeared to concede defeat, with Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, nephew of the jailed former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, saying: “We are going to sit on opposition benches, despite all the reservations.”