NEWS: Reps. Casar, Wild, & Colleagues Urge US to Defend Democracy in Pakistan

WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Susan Wild (D-PA), along with 29 of their colleagues, are calling on President Joseph R. Biden and the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to stand with the Pakistani people and defend democracy in Pakistan by withholding recognition of a new government in the country until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted. 

The members released a letter today expressing concerns about pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan’s recent parliamentary elections, and urging that the U.S. government: 

1. withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted;
2. urge Pakistani authorities to release anyone who has been detained for engaging in political speech or activity, and task State Department officials in Pakistan with gathering information about such cases and advocating for their release; and
3. make clear to Pakistani authorities that U.S. law provides for accountability for acts that violate human rights, undermine democracy, or further corruption, including the potential for military and other cooperation to be halted.

“The Pakistani people came out in large numbers to have their voices heard, despite allegations of pre-poll rigging. It is in the U.S. interest to ensure the results of this election represent the will of the people, not the Pakistani elite or the military,” said Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas). “The U.S. must hold our allies to a high standard. We should not recognize a result until a credible, independent investigation has been completed. Democracy and the will of the people must prevail.” 

“We must remain strong in our commitment to preserve the highest standard of democracy at home and abroad,” said Congresswoman Susan Wild (D-PA). “The next government of Pakistan must be a reflection of what the people of Pakistan genuinely voted for. Now is the time for the United States and the international community to state unequivocally that we stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan and will not participate in efforts to subvert the country's democracy.”

The letter is led by Representatives Greg Casar (TX-35) and Susan Wild (PA-07), and signed by Representatives Donald Beyer (VA-08), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), André Carson (IN-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), David Trone (MD-06), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

The letter is endorsed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Community Alliance for Peace and Justice, First Pakistan Global, Global Peace Seekers, Just Foreign Policy, MPower Change Action Fund, Now or Never, and the Save Pakistan coalition. 

The full letter can be viewed here and below: 

Dear President Biden and Secretary Blinken,

We write to express our concerns about pre- and post-poll rigging in Pakistan’s recent parliamentary elections. We appreciate the steps your administration has already taken to draw attention to interference in these elections. Your administration has rightly stood behind the “credible international and local election observers” who documented “undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly,” and we join you in “condemn[ing] electoral violence, restrictions on the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including attacks on media workers, and restrictions on access to the Internet and telecommunication services.” Given these concerns, we urge you to:

1. withhold recognition of a new government in Pakistan until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation of election interference has been conducted;
2. urge Pakistani authorities to release anyone who has been detained for engaging in political speech or activity, and task State Department officials in Pakistan with gathering information about such cases and advocating for their release; and 
3. make clear to Pakistani authorities that U.S. law provides for accountability for acts that violate human rights, undermine democracy, or further corruption, including the potential for military and other cooperation to be halted. 

Prior to the elections on February 8th, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to prison terms of 10 years and 14 years on questionable charges of leaking state secrets and corruption. Members of his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were forced to run as independents and prohibited from using the PTI party symbol on the ballot, despite consistently polling as the most popular party in the country. Leading up to the election, PTI members faced police raids, arrests, and harassment. On the day of the election, Pakistani authorities suspended mobile calls and data, making it harder for voters to find polling stations. While the pre-poll rigging efforts rightly received widespread international and domestic condemnation, attention has now turned to widespread allegations of post-poll rigging.

Concerns arose after delays in reporting final results and early returns showed PTI-backed candidates on a path to victory. Over the coming days and weeks, previously reported vote totals allegedly changed dramatically, while video evidence emerged on social media of purported abuses by security forces and election officials at polling stations, as results were delayed well past legal deadlines.

Findings by nonpartisan observers also lend credibility to these concerns. According to the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), which is nonpartisan but has worked closely with election authorities, more than two-thirds of polling sites suffered from the kinds of election law violations that could have enabled changing outcomes of races. The dispute revolves around discrepancies between the polling center results that were issued to candidates (on a document known as “Form 45”), and the final constituency-wide tally (known as the “Form 47”).  These findings were echoed by other respected election monitors and human rights organizations, as well as the nation’s newspaper of record, which explained in a February 20 editorial that “independent observers, candidates, and accredited media personnel reported being excluded or evicted from the Form 47 compilation process” meant that “the most important check on the process was bypassed without any convincing explanation.” This growing body of evidence and diversity of voices has led many of the leading observers, human rights organizations, and media organizations to call for a transparent, credible audit process to verify the true outcome of the election.

Given the strong evidence of pre- and post-poll rigging, we urge you to wait until a thorough, transparent, and credible investigation has been conducted before recognizing a new Pakistani government. Without taking this necessary step, you risk enabling anti-democratic behavior by Pakistani authorities and could undermine the democratic will of the Pakistani people. 

Pakistan is a long-standing ally of the United States, and we recognize the importance of our relationship for regional stability and counterterrorism efforts. It is in the U.S. interest to ensure that democracy thrives in Pakistan and that election results reflect the interests of the Pakistani people, not the interests of the Pakistani elite and military. We look forward to working with you to show Pakistanis that the U.S. stands with them in their fight for democracy and human rights. 

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio.  A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 118th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on Agriculture.