Islamabad, 10 Feb. 2024 (APP)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan expressed its surprise on Saturday at the negative tone of some of the statements of certain countries over the recently concluded general elections in Pakistan.

It said these statements neither took into account the complexity of the electoral process nor acknowledged the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis.

“These statements ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections peacefully and successfully while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign-sponsored terrorism,” the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said that they had taken note of statements from certain countries and organizations on the general elections held in Pakistan on February 8.

“Some statements are not even factual. There was no nationwide internet shutdown. Only mobile services were suspended for the day to avoid terrorist incidents on the polling day. The election exercise has demonstrated that the concerns of many commentators were misplaced,” it was emphasized.

Pakistan held the elections as part of its commitment to building a stable and democratic society, the spokesperson said, adding that while they valued constructive advice from their friends, making negative commentary even before the completion of the electoral process was neither constructive nor objective.

“Pakistan will continue to work towards building a vibrant democratic polity. Every election and peaceful transition of power brings us closer to that goal. We do this not on account of the concerns expressed by others but because that is the aspiration of our people and the vision of our founding fathers,” it was further added.

Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that the voters in the currently held general elections exercised their constitutional rights, and by and large, they voted for their favorite candidates despite security challenges.

“It is the beauty of a vibrant democracy, and in Pakistan, it is a transformational democracy, also a brave democracy, considering the security challenges,” he said during an interview with the Turkish broadcaster TRT.

Kakar said that their responsibility as a caretaker government was to ensure security, and ahead of the elections, two terrorist incidents in Balochistan province occurred, which reminded the people of the real-time threat. The government always had more responsibility when it came to security, he added.

Responding to a question about the suspension of the mobile services, he said that to face the security challenge, they had to block the communication channels; otherwise, they did not have any political motive whatsoever.

He said they did their best to secure them. It was only mobile services that were suspended while the internet service was available.

Two provinces were badly hit by terrorist attacks, and if it was kept in mind, people came out and bravely voted for their candidates, which was not usual but rather quite unusual. ‘The people of Pakistan are quite brave; they came out and voted, he said.

Former three times elected premier Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, majority party leader of PMLN in National Assembly and largest province of Punjab in recent general elections has extended an olive branch, pledging to accept the mandate bestowed upon all parties and independent candidates, ushering in a spirit of cooperation as uncertainty reigned the political landscape.

In a strategic move, Nawaz unveiled plans to build a coalition, nominating key figures of his party former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar to engage the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other smaller groups, mainly the component parties that were allies in the previous 16-month term of PDM to form a coalition government with his party at the forefront.

Some 60 million out of nearly 129 million registered voters cast their ballots in Pakistan’s Feb. 8 general elections, an independent polls watchdog said on Saturday, indicating the voter turnout to be around 47%.

The figure was released by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its premilitary observation report on the vote. The official voting percentage, however, is yet to be released.

According to provisional results, independent candidates, mostly backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan have won 99 out of total 266 seats of the lower house or the National Assembly, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif getting 73, and center-left Pakistan People’s Party 53.

According to International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Pakistan’s general elections held on Thursday, February 8, 2024, for its National Assembly and provincial assemblies in its four provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.

More than 128 million voters across the country are registered to vote in the general elections, with nearly 18,000 candidates competing for 336 National Assembly seats (Lower House) and 749 Provincial Assembly seats.