HRCP worried about polls uncertainty

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has voiced profound concerns regarding the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming general elections. The HRCP has demanded that these elections adhere as closely as possible to the 90-day period stipulated in the Constitution.

According to a statement, the governing council of the HRCP insisted that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should promptly announce the general polls schedule.

It continued that the delimitation of constituencies must be completed quickly as well as efficiently and under no circumstances used as an excuse to delay the elections any further.

Moreover, the HRCP expressed its worries over the scope for manipulating the electoral process through institutions including the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and urged the commission to guard against this possibility.

The HRCP said it was greatly alarmed by the increasingly polarised environment in which religious and sectarian divisions were being exacerbated reportedly to carve out artificial political space for far-right parties including the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

“The divisive and violent tactics used by such parties to build their political identities -- particularly at the expense of religious minorities and sects-- are eating into organic political and civic spaces,” the statement read.

“The continuing terrorist violence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has also made political parties more apprehensive about campaigning in the province -- a pattern we have witnessed before and must not go through again,” it added.

The HRCP observed that apart from ensuring that elections were held in a free, fair and credible manner, the “test” of the current caretaker government was to see that it would not only protect and respect the people’s right to protest peacefully, but also if it would respond to the issues that ordinary citizens were mobilising around.

Thousands of traders on Saturday observed a shutter-down strike in many places in the country unable to cope with soaring inflation, exorbitant electricity bills and the recent hike in the prices of petroleum products being the cherry on the top.

The strike call came from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and different traders associations and was supported by lawyers, with the legal community boycotting courtrooms.

Commercial hubs and business centres remained closed in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and other cities across the country, where abandoned bazaars were posted with placards decrying "the unreasonable increase in electricity bills and taxes".

Public transport and other forms of commute were also less than normal on major thoroughfares.

Protests against high electricity bills have grown after the caretaker government refused to slash energy prices without a nod from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Decades of mismanagement and instability have hobbled Pakistan’s economy, and this summer the country was forced into a deal with the IMF to avert default.

However, the global lender demanded that popular subsidies cushioning living costs be slashed. Petrol and electricity prices skyrocketed after the government caved in to its demands.

On Friday, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on his part denied that the sudden increase in electricity bills was a concern and termed it a "non-issue".

He stressed the need for the consumers to pay their bills.