A state official from President Joe Biden’s administration walked back on his blunder in which he called for “democratic suppression” in Pakistan.
While Pakistan is a democracy, the co-chairperson of the country’s human rights commission, Munizae Jahangir, warned on Monday that “there is little evidence to show that the upcoming elections will be free, fair or credible.”
In February, Pakistan will hold its national elections. For months, a caretaker government has been running Pakistan following the dissolution of its parliament on August 9.
Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan, who is serving a three-year jail sentence for corruption, attempted to run for a seat in the National Assembly, but was barred.
Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images
Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, at a press briefing on Thursday responded to the following comments from journalist Ryan Grim, who called out the department’s seemingly passive stance on the Pakistani election, amid allegations of election rigging:
“You said, it is for the Pakistani people to choose their government and not only as you mentioned is the former prime minister in jail at the time, but you’re also seeing something rather extraordinary where members of his party who are filing to run for office, and there’s a lot of video evidence from around the country that you may have seen this, they’re filing to run for office and they’re being arrested and abducted at the filing office,” said Grim, the D.C. bureau chief at The Intercept.
“They’re also arresting quote, unquote approvers of people who signed their petitions as well. So, you’re not going to have any candidates for the people to choose from, so how can Pakistani people choose their government, if there’s nobody to choose from on the ballot and is this something that is concerning?”
Miller responded: “So, I will say without commenting on the specific matters, we wanna see free and fair elections that are conducted in accordance with Pakistan’s laws. It’s not for the United States to dictate to Pakistan … the exact specifics of how it conducts its election.
“But to make clear that we want to see those elections conducted in a free, fair and peaceful manner that includes freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association and ultimately a full open, reliable, vibrant democratic process.”
Grim then pressed further, saying that with “election rigging of this level … it would seem like the State Department might come down a little harder.”
Miller then made a blunder when responding to Grim’s pushback.
“And we will continue to support democratic suppression and vibrant democracy in Pakistan …” Miller said.
He then quickly clarified to Matt Lee, diplomatic writer for the Associated Press, “I said expression. Expression. Expression. I’m not gonna let you trick me into correcting myself unnecessarily again. Expression.”
Newsweek reached out to the State Department via online form for comment.
Erik Sperling, executive director of the group Just Foreign Policy, called Miller’s blunder “a possible Freudian slip,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Reacting to a clip of the press briefing shared on social media, X user @RedWishDotCom wrote, “Pointed question from @ryangrim. Non answer from state dept spokesman. Unless you heard the Freudian slip where he says the US supports democratic suppression, which is EXACTLY what’s going on in Pakistan.”
“The State Dept. Admits they support ‘democratic Suppression’ in Pakistan. (mistakenly) It’s becoming clear, there is a double standard being set for Pakistan’s elections. Where there is not [sic] such thing as free and fair elections when the opposition isn’t even allowed to run. @ImranKhanPTI,” X user @MerruX wrote.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.