Shocked But Not Awed: Manipulation and Counter-Manipulation in the 2024 Pakistan Elections

This paper attempts to increase our understanding of the micro-dynamics of the election rigging process in hybrid regimes by presenting a detailed case study of the 2024 general elections in Pakistan. It focuses not only on the ‘menu of manipulation’ employed by the Pakistani military and its collaborators, but the manner in which these interventions were combined and sequenced to yield what initially appeared to be a coherent and effective ‘shock and awe’ strategy, designed to completely beat the out-of-favour Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and its supporters into submission even before the polls began. It describes the reasons why this strategy failed, including the clever use of technology by PTI supporters and the excessive harshness displayed by the military, which hurt rather than helped its cause, forcing it to take ‘corrective’ actions that not only undermined the legitimacy of the poll but the popularity of the military and its collaborators as well.