Supporters of Imran vow covert vote during elections
ISLAMABAD: Supporters of Imran Khan say they will take evasive measures to cast votes backing the jailed politician in Pakistan’s Thursday election, after a major crackdown against his party.
The South Asian nation’s poll has already been stained by allegations of pre-vote rigging, with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) party barred from contesting as a bloc, prevented from rallying and censored from the airwaves.
PTI voters say they anticipate polling-day interference and will deploy tactics to blend in with supporters of other parties.
“Flags and badges are for showing off, but the vote is from the heart,” said 22-year-old mobile phone salesman Barkat Ullah at an Islamabad market, explaining he would keep a low profile on election day. “The objective is to vote.”
Surveys show 71-year-old Imran Khan still has immense personal popularity despite the muzzling of his party, which has also had its websites blocked and helplines downed.
While PTI has been kept off the ballot, his supporters can still vote for Imran loyalists running as independents.
In Pakistan, voters for each party often travel to polls together trailing party paraphernalia — making allegiances easily identifiable. But 25-year-old first-time voter Waseem Ali said he would escort each family member “one by one, to avoid forming a crowd and grabbing attention.” Nearby, Abdul Basit said he planned to travel to vote with supporters of the Awami National Party. But when safely secluded in the polling booth the 28-year-old will stamp his vote for PTI. “I feel bad I can’t exercise my right to vote freely, but I am going to vote anyway,” he said.
“In recent years tactics have graduated from the crude stuffing of ballot boxes to ‘pre-poll rigging’ — short-hand for denying candidates known to be out of favour with the military room to campaign freely,” Farzana Shaikh of the Chatham House think tank wrote last week.
Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the integrity of their elections, polling agency Gallup said this week, noting the figure “ties previous highs” but “represents a significant regression in recent years.”
In Islamabad, Hassan Ali pledged he would march towards his polling station to vote sporting PTI badges and flags, playing party songs. “How many are they going to stop?” asked the 28-year-old. “I’m not scared of anyone.” But if he’s turned away he “will join any other party’s crowd” to cast a vote backing Khan. “The country is run by the people,” he insisted.