Pak Army blatantly meddling elections: Former envoy

Pakistan's powerful Army assisted by a "partisan" judiciary is "blatantly meddling" the July 25 elections, the country's top former envoy to the US has alleged.

Over 12,570 candidates, including a number of hardline clerics, are contesting the elections to the parliament and four provincial assemblies.

"More than 100 million Pakistanis will have the chance to cast their ballots in general elections on July 25, but the vote is already tainted by the blatant meddling of the country's all-powerful military, with a series of assists by a partisan judiciary, former Pakistani ambassador to US Husain Haqqani wrote in Foreign Policy.

This interference by what is known locally as the "establishment" ensures that whatever the results will be on election day, the outcome will not rid Pakistan of its chronic instability and poor civil-military relations, he said.

He claimed that the powerful Pakistani military establishment wants to root out two parties --- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -- that have dominated the political scene for the last three decades.

Haqqani alleged that the establishment has orchestrated an elaborate set of legal and political moves to pave the way for the victory of the former cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.

"The most important of these moves was the removal of Sharif as prime minister one year ago," he said.

The elections will transfer power from one civilian government to another for only the second time in Pakistan's history.

The New York Times reported that This year's election could have been an occasion for Pakistanis to celebrate their democracy. Instead, the campaign has been marred by suppression of the news media, accusations of manipulation by the military, a rise in Islamist extremist candidates and a series of attacks on candidates and campaign offices,"