Pakistan: 2018 is the latest instalment of an army driven election heist

The most sinister ploy of the army was the induction of assorted jihadi and extremist groups into the electoral process, in the name of "mainstreaming" them

Pakistan’s just-concluded elections rank among the four most tainted ones since 1970. In 1970, the people’s mandate was stolen after the elections lead eventually to the independence of Bangladesh. In the current instance, however, the heist took place before the polls with massive political engineering under the auspices of the Pakistan army. The army did not just back Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but virtually bulldozed its joint opponent Nawaz Sharif and his party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN). As the results came in, the army’s spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor could barely hide his glee when he took