Pakistan's deputy PM promises tit-for-tat response to US criticism

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Thursday that he would introduce a resolution in response to the United States House of Representatives' call for an impartial investigation into alleged election irregularities in Pakistan’s recent national polls on February 8. Dar emphasized the importance of asserting Pakistan's sovereignty.

The US lawmakers had overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging Islamabad to uphold the democratic process, ensure the rule of law, and protect media and speech freedoms. This bipartisan-supported US resolution followed Pakistani elections that were marred by violence, communication blackouts, and delayed results, leading to allegations of rigging, which the Election Commission of Pakistan denied.

Addressing the National Assembly, Dar said, “We will bring a resolution in response to the US resolution. We must show our sovereignty. We must show our unity. We must show that we mean business. There is no sense to this [US resolution]. We can also criticize a number of things about other countries. But we refrain.”

He continued, “I believe that mutual dignity and respect is that they should reciprocate. We have taken notice of this, the draft resolution is ready. It will be shared with all the parliamentary leaders of both treasury benches and the opposition, and I would request that we must come in unity with a clear resolution in response to the US resolution.”

Dar mentioned that the National Assembly was currently focused on passing the budget, which was a time-sensitive priority. However, he noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved moving forward with the resolution, which would be done as soon as the budget process was completed by Friday evening.

Pakistan’s foreign office had stated a day earlier that the US resolution was based on "an incomplete understanding of the political situation and electoral process in Pakistan." It also pointed out that the resolution's timing and context were at odds with the improving dynamics of bilateral relations, adding that such resolutions were "neither constructive nor objective."