ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s House of Representatives on Friday denounced a U.S. congressional resolution this week that called for an independent investigation into allegations of widespread fraud in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections earlier this year.
Pakistan’s resolution was introduced by ruling party lawmaker Shaista Malik and was passed in parliament despite opposition from lawmakers from the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who said the February 8 vote was fraudulent.
In a televised address, Malik said the US resolution passed on Wednesday was “completely contrary to the facts” and that Pakistan would not tolerate any interference in its internal affairs.
This latest development came a day after Pakistan’s foreign ministry rejected the US congressional resolution, stunning Pakistani officials.
Islamabad announced on Friday its decision to appoint a new ambassador to the United States to replace Masood Khan.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a news conference that Khan would be replaced by diplomat Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, but she said the new appointment was already under consideration.
Baluchi said Pakistan regrets the resolution passed by the US House of Representatives.
“This resolution is clearly born out of an inadequate and erroneous understanding of Pakistan’s political and electoral processes and is also an unwanted interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” she said.
The latest development comes a day after a Pakistani appeals court upheld the convictions and seven-year prison sentences of Khan and his wife for their illegal marriage in 2018. They deny that they violated a three-month waiting period, a Sharia requirement required by Pakistani law.
Pakistan’s top leadership expressed anger at the US resolution, but Khan’s party welcomed it, saying its electoral victory had been turned into a defeat by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Khan’s party won the most seats but fell short of the simple majority needed to form a government, paving the way for his political opponents to form a coalition government.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who succeeded Khan after a parliamentary vote of no confidence forced him from power in 2022, has repeatedly proposed dialogue with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which has a strong presence in parliament.
But Khan’s party rejected the offer, claiming Sharif came to power through vote-rigging.
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