Pakistan Elections 2024: Digital darkness blinds voting day with Sharif tipped to win

Pakistan on Thursday (Feb 8) suspended entire country's mobile phone service on election day, citing the "recent surge in terrorist activities". The move has been widely slammed as "beginning of rigging" of the elections with both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leaders coming out to slam the suspension of mobile internet services.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) blasted the suspension of mobile phone services, including the Internet, and urged people to remove personal WiFi passwords so that people can access the Internet amid ongoing polling.

"Pakistanis, the illegitimate, fascist regime has blocked cell phone services across Pakistan on polling day," former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party wrote on X.

"You are all requested to counter this cowardly act by removing passwords from your personal WiFi accounts, so anyone in the vicinity can have access to internet on this extremely important day," it urged the people.

While sharing a news piece fromDawnnewspaperrelated to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority's pre-poll assurance that there are no orders to block the internet, the PTI said that the"flip-flop on internet services during election day is an infuriating betrayal."

"Shutting down phone service is a deliberate suppression of citizens' rights and a mockery of democracy," it added.

Not just PTI but the Pakistan People's Party, which also constituted the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) that succeeded Imran Khan's ousted administration in April 2022, also slammed the suspension of mobile phone services.

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Former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar described shutting down of mobile services as the "beginning of rigging" on election day.

What does suspension of mobile services mean for voting?

The move violates multiple high court rulings since 2018. Security concerns were greater in 2018 and 2013 but no such move was made back then.

"It’s clear, based on the steps they took as soon as the polls opened, that the powers that be remain concerned about the PTI’s possible electoral impact. Especially its turnout potential. The party has been badly weakened and hollowed out, and yet it still has them worried," Michael Kugelman,South Asia Institute Director of The Wilson Centre wrote on X.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is widely expected to win the elections as the entire electioneering appears to be engineered to favour his return to power.