Pak hits back at poll criticism, says services curbs necessary

Pakistan on Saturday hit back at criticism over the conduct of its parliamentary elections, which were held amid sporadic militant attacks and an unprecedented stoppage of all mobile phone services.

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The strongly worded reaction from the foreign ministry insisted the vote was peaceful and successful.

The US State Department said that Thursday's vote was held under undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The European Union has also said it regrets the lack of a level playing field due to the inability of some political actors to contest the elections.

The ministry said it was surprised by "the negative tone of some of these statements, which neither take into account the complexity of the electoral process, nor acknowledge the free and enthusiastic exercise of the right to vote by tens of millions of Pakistanis".

It said such statements "ignore the undeniable fact that Pakistan has held general elections, peacefully and successfully, while dealing with serious security threats resulting primarily from foreign sponsored terrorism." It said there was no nationwide internet shutdown and "only mobile services were suspended for the day to avoid terrorist incidents on polling day."