ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday said a telephone helpline it had launched to assist voters ahead of Feb. 8 general elections had been blocked, saying it would not be demoralized by “tactics” employed to sideline the party from polls.
Stripped of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol for the upcoming polls over not holding intra-party elections, a legal requirement, PTI candidates now have to contest as independents, each with a different election symbol, which the party fears will become a source of confusion for voters in a country where over 40 percent of the population is illiterate.
To combat this potential confusion and create ease in accessing election-related information, the party launched an online portal on its website insaf.pk, as well as a “back-up site,” pticandidates.com. It also introduced a feature for voters to be able to message PTI founder former prime minister Imran Khan’s official Facebook account to get information about PTI-backed candidates and launched a “voter’s assistance” helpline with the number +920516133331.
“Helpline blocked by authorities,” the PTI said in a text to journalists, without specifying who had blocked the phone line. “PTI shall not be demoralized by these tactics employed to keep the party’s massive support out of the equation. We shall keep innovating ways to educate our voters, come what may.”
The government has not yet commented on the blockade.
Last week, the PTI said its main website as well as back up site had been blocked. On Tuesday afternoon, Arab News staffers tried to access the PTI’s websites but were unable to do so through Wi-Fi or mobile network data. The websites were accessible when using a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Pakistan has experienced multiple Internet disruption in recent weeks that made social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, X and Instagram inaccessible.
The most recent occurrences were on Jan. 20, Jan. 7 and Dec. 17, when the PTI was holding virtual events.
The government has said the disruptions were due to “technical glitches.”
Responding to concerns of Internet blockades on polling day, Pakistan’s Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said this week the government had not yet issued any instructions to suspend mobile or online services on Feb. 8. Separately, the government in Pakistan’s volatile southwestern province of Balochistan has said it would shut down Internet in sensitive areas.
The PTI, whose leader has been in jail since August, says it is facing a state-backed and military-sanctioned crackdown meant to keep it out of elections and stifle its vast popularity among Pakistani voters. The caretaker government tasked to oversee elections says all parties are getting equal opportunities for electioneering while the military says it does not interfere in political affairs.
