Electoral fraud in Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان میں انتخابی دھاندلی) has history intertwined with military interventions and legal obstacles against political dissenters, impacting the democratic process.
[3] The lack of enthusiasm regarding the outcome was highlighted by the pre-emptive publication of Ayub Khan's inaugural plans by Dawn, several days before the official vote count was confirmed.
[2] The opposition, consolidated under the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), faced obstacles as state resources and intelligence were allegedly used to skew results in favor of Bhutto and the PPP.
[5] Tahir Mehdi attributed the current trend where independent candidates align with political parties' post-election to the precedents set in 1985, suggesting this practice undermined parliamentary democracy and electoral integrity.
[5] Mazhar Abbas argued that the lack of party-based elections amounted to inherent pre-poll rigging, deepening societal divisions along feudal and caste lines.
[5] By 1990, the IJI had strengthened its position, with its chairman, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, serving as the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan for the elections, aiming to influence the outcome.
[5] In 2012, the Supreme Court of Pakistan recognized substantial evidence of rigging in the 1990 elections, implicating Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Mirza Aslam Beg, and Asad Durrani.
[5][6] The court also highlighted the illegal distribution of Rs 140 million from the state treasury to opposition politicians by Younas Habib, aimed at preventing a PPP victory.
[5] However, an exception was made for religious scholars, equating madrassah certificates with graduate degrees, thereby favoring the pro-Musharraf alliance called Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and introducing a bias in candidate eligibility.
Opposition parties including the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League referred to Musharraf's decision to hold a referendum as inappropriate and urged citizens to boycott the vote.
[20][21] On 16 February, in a press conference, PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb stated that all Form 45s produced on social media as proof of fraud allegations were fake.
[22][23] On 17 February, Commissioner of Rawalpindi Division, Liaquat Ali Chattha, called a press conference to declare he felt compelled by conscience to publicity confess his complicity on electoral rigging by returning officers under his command to manipulate results for at least 13 candidates.
ECP officials denied the accusations classing then as unfounded and motivated by self-promotion, adding that a divisional commissioner had no direct role in the electoral process.