Pakistan prime minister says manipulation of elections by military is ‘absurd’

Pakistan’s interim prime minister said he expects parliamentary elections to take place in the new year, dismissing the possibility that the country’s powerful military would manipulate the results to ensure that jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party doesn’t win as “absolutely absurd.”
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said it’s the Election Commission that is going to conduct the vote, not the military, and Khan appointed the commission’s current chief, so “why would he turn in any sense of the word against him?”
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Kakar also lashed out at India for touting itself as the world’s largest democracy while refusing to hold a democratic referendum in disputed Kashmir so its people can decide their future. And he said leaders in the region are discussing holding a forum to consider what changes Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers would need to make before any country takes “a huge step” and recognizes their government.