- A group of US lawmakers urged the Biden administration not to recognize Pakistan’s government amid rigging claims
- State Department calls the national polls in Pakistan ‘competitive,’ seeking investigation into reported irregularities
ISLAMABAD: The United States said on Tuesday it was going to work with Pakistan’s newly elected government, though it reiterated that any irregularities during the national polls must be investigated and raised concern over social media shutdowns in the country.
A group of US lawmakers wrote a letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month in which they urged his administration not to recognize Pakistan’s new government until the allegations of pre- and post-poll rigging were thoroughly investigated.
The development took place after the national elections in Pakistan last month were marred by cellphone service shutdown and delayed result announcements, leading to widespread speculation of vote fraud.
Asked about the letter by the American lawmakers, US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller described the electoral contest in Pakistan as “competitive” during a media briefing.
“Millions and millions of people made their voices heard,” he said. “A new government has been formed and we will of course work with that government. At the same time, there were reported irregularities. There have been challenges brought by political parties to the results and we want to see those challenges and those irregularities fully investigated.”
In response to a question about a recent resolution in Pakistan’s senate to ban popular social media platforms, he was said freedom of expression was important and the American administration supported it in Pakistan and elsewhere.
“You’ve heard me in the past say from here that we condemn the partial or complete government-imposed shutdowns of Internet platforms, including Twitter or X, and so we have and we will continue to emphasize the importance of respecting these fundamental freedoms during our engagements with Pakistani officials,” he added.
A Pakistani senator moved a resolution in the upper house of parliament last week, demanding a blanket ban on all social media websites amid continuing outage of platform X in the country.
The resolution was later withdrawn in the wake of extensive criticism against it within the country.