Pakistan: Election Commission blames internet ban for delay

Pakistan’s top election watchdog reversed course on Monday and blamed the nationwide general election polling suspension on Thursday for what it called a “hindrance” to timely results declaration. Amid speculation of horse-trading in the absence of a clear majority and the delay in announcing results for all National Assembly (NA) seats, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also claimed that the delay in results did not affect “any specific political party.” The first result trickled down late on the same night, and the final result for the NA polls wasn’t announced until Sunday, which prompted all political parties, regular people, and observers to denounce the ECP. Pakistan’s Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja had stated on election day that the Election Management System (EMS) is not reliant on the internet and that its operation will not be impacted by it. The caretaker government had suspended mobile services owing to the worsening security situation, despite several government agencies’ assurances that internet services would be operational on election day. The attacks were terror-related and resulted in the deaths of at least thirty individuals the day before. The coordination and delivery of election materials have been negatively impacted by the decision to restrict the internet, according to a statement released by the ECP on Monday. “Except for some constituencies, the results of the elections were completed within one and a half days,” the statement said, adding, “The delay in results in some constituencies did not benefit or harm any specific political party.” The electoral watchdog highlighted that the first result of the 2024 election was received at 2 am compared to the 2018 election result, which was received at 4 am. When the Election Management System (EMS) app was first introduced, it was used to transmit election results from each polling place to a centralized system where they would be tabulated. ECP Secretary Syed Asif Hussain had also stated two days prior to election day that the EMS would function even in the event of an internet outage since returning officers (ROs) would still be able to compile the results offline. He had stated that satellite access was given to over 60 ROs in isolated locations to keep them linked. The results of the National Assembly showed that independents, supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party led by former prime minister Imran Khan, had gained 101 seats. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by another former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, received 75 seats, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, received 54 seats, and the MQM-P received 17 seats. The PML-Quaid secured three seats, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) four, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) two, and the Balochistan National Party (BNP) one. A party needs to secure 133 of the 265 contested seats in the National Assembly in order to establish a government.