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A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has reported that Pakistan's democracy ranking dropped from 3.25 in 2023 to 2.84 in 2024 amid political chaos and election upheavals.
According to the EIU's Democracy Index report, Pakistan witnessed violence ahead of and on polling conducted on February 8 of last year, Geo News reported. "The most popular politician, Imran Khan, whose own democratic credentials are questionable, was jailed shortly before the election took place," the EIU stated. Geo News mentioned that the 2024 general election had the highest voter turnout in the country's history. However, the events before and after polling days "raised questions" over democratic rights and freedoms and also raised concerns about the reliability of the election held by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). According to Geo News, the election monitors observed various issues in 51 constituencies after conducting on-site inspections. Polling day also saw nationwide internet shutdowns and suspension of mobile services, as well as unplanned alteration to polling information. Additionally, a delay in the announcement of election results also was raised as a problem, with the post-polling process also being called as "unsatisfactory," as it was alleged that the count of votes did not align between officials. Reportedly, around a fifth of all polling stations which the HRCP observed saw that the presiding officer "did not fix the statement regarding the count of votes for public display, or was not seen transmitting a photograph of the result to the returning officer and the Election Commission of Pakistan." It was also alleged that candidates, polling agents and observers were denied permission to oversee the provisional consolidation of results, Geo News reported. The Geo Election Cell's own investigation also found inconsistencies and issues, finding that multiple forms of vote counts had been altered, except for places where PML-N's Nawaz Sharif got more than 1,000 votes. According to their investigations, some polling stations also showed signs of vote manipulation. (ANI)
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