US cautions Pakistan about ties amid election irregularities...
US cautions pakistan about ties amid election irregularities...
The united states warned pakistan on wednesday that if it does not look into anomalies in the previous month's poll and, if necessary, hold new elections, ties with that country will suffer. In testimony to legislators, Donald Lu, the senior US ambassador for South Asia, expressed "serious concerns" about the way the february 8 election was handled and about continuous disruptions to social media and the media, including the extended closure of X. Lu stated at an occasionally boisterous meeting of a house Foreign Affairs subcommittee, "The election commission of pakistan, should it find that these irregularities are substantiated, should rerun elections where there's been interference." "Our 76-year engagement with this nation has been enjoyable. If pakistan does not have a democratic process that respects its own constitution, it will be a barrier to our cooperation, Lu stated.According to Lu, the US was not considering making any significant new weapons sales to pakistan, a Cold war ally whose army and intelligence services have long dominated politics and whose previous connections to the Taliban in afghanistan damaged relations with the US government.Imran Khan, a former prime minister and famous cricket player, was incarcerated and disqualified from running ahead of the election, and his pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was the target of a crackdown. Even so, Shehbaz Sharif, the opponent, obtained the prime ministership in a precarious alliance between two dynastic parties, but Khan's nominees nevertheless garnered more seats than any other party. After being ousted from office as prime minister two years ago by a parliamentary vote, Khan has been a vocal critic of the US military and has claimed that the US orchestrated his removal.In favor of Khan, a leaked diplomatic paper from pakistan claimed that Lu had expressed concern about the then-prime minister's ties to russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Pro-Khan protestors continuously interrupted Lu during the hearing, and he vehemently denied having attempted to remove Khan. "This is a false conspiracy hypothesis. It is an outright lie," he declared. "We honor Pakistan's sovereignty. We uphold the idea that only the people of Pakistan—the Pakistani people—should have the authority to select their own leaders through a democratic process." Career diplomat Lu claimed that because of the accusations, he has received death threats and threats against his family.
The united states warned pakistan on wednesday that if it does not look into anomalies in the previous month's poll and, if necessary, hold new elections, ties with that country will suffer. In testimony to legislators, Donald Lu, the senior US ambassador for South Asia, expressed "serious concerns" about the way the february 8 election was handled and about continuous disruptions to social media and the media, including the extended closure of X. Lu stated at an occasionally boisterous meeting of a house Foreign Affairs subcommittee, "The election commission of pakistan, should it find that these irregularities are substantiated, should rerun elections where there's been interference." "Our 76-year engagement with this nation has been enjoyable. If pakistan does not have a democratic process that respects its own constitution, it will be a barrier to our cooperation, Lu stated.According to Lu, the US was not considering making any significant new weapons sales to pakistan, a Cold war ally whose army and intelligence services have long dominated politics and whose previous connections to the Taliban in afghanistan damaged relations with the US government.Imran Khan, a former prime minister and famous cricket player, was incarcerated and disqualified from running ahead of the election, and his pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was the target of a crackdown. Even so, Shehbaz Sharif, the opponent, obtained the prime ministership in a precarious alliance between two dynastic parties, but Khan's nominees nevertheless garnered more seats than any other party. After being ousted from office as prime minister two years ago by a parliamentary vote, Khan has been a vocal critic of the US military and has claimed that the US orchestrated his removal.In favor of Khan, a leaked diplomatic paper from pakistan claimed that Lu had expressed concern about the then-prime minister's ties to russia during the invasion of Ukraine. Pro-Khan protestors continuously interrupted Lu during the hearing, and he vehemently denied having attempted to remove Khan. "This is a false conspiracy hypothesis. It is an outright lie," he declared. "We honor Pakistan's sovereignty. We uphold the idea that only the people of Pakistan—the Pakistani people—should have the authority to select their own leaders through a democratic process." Career diplomat Lu claimed that because of the accusations, he has received death threats and threats against his family.