‘Fair polls impossible’

Human Rights Watch says it is impossible for Pakistan to hold free and fair parliamentary polls as President has tilted the political playing field so far in his favor.

It will be "impossible" for Pakistan to hold free and fair parliamentary elections next month because President Pervez Musharraf has tilted the political playing field so far in his favor, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

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"A genuine election campaign is impossible when the media remains muzzled, leaders of civil society remain under arrest, and the legitimate judiciary of the country has been deposed and replaced by hand-picked supporters of the government," said Ali Dayan Hasan, South Asia researcher at the New York-based group.