Senior US diplomat Nuland urges ‘timely’ and ‘fair’ elections in Pakistan
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US Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland discussed with Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani issues such as Pakistan's economic stability and continued engagement with the IMF.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON – Senior US diplomat Victoria Nuland spoke on Tuesday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and discussed the importance of “timely, free and fair elections” in the South Asian nation, the US State Department said.
“Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland and Foreign Minister Jilani discussed the importance of timely, free and fair elections in a manner consistent with Pakistan’s laws and Constitution,” the department said in a statement.
Pakistani politics has been in a crisis for more than a year, with former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in 2022,
Khan blamed the United States and Pakistan’s military for his ousting. Both Washington and the military have denied his claims. The State Department statement on the call between Ms Nuland and Mr Jilani made no mention of Khan.
A Pakistani high court on Tuesday suspended the jailed former prime minister’s sentence on corruption charges, but he will remain behind bars as a judge had already ordered his detention in another case.
The conviction of Khan, who remains Pakistan’s most popular leader, according to opinion polls, has also barred him from contesting elections for five years.
Pakistan swore in a caretaker Cabinet under interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar
The caretaker Cabinet's top job will be to lead Pakistan towards economic stabilisation, with the US$350 billion (S$473 billion) economy treading a narrow recovery path after getting a last-minute US$3 billion bailout deal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), averting a sovereign debt default.
The election commission said earlier in August that new constituencies based on the latest census would be finalised by Dec 14. After that, the commission will confirm an election date.
Political analysts said that if the caretaker set-up stretches beyond its constitutional tenure, a prolonged period without an elected government would allow the military, which has ruled directly for more than three decades of the country’s 76-year existence, to consolidate control.
Ms Nuland and Mr Jilani also discussed Pakistan’s economic stability and continued engagement with the IMF, the State Department said. REUTERS
