Controversial election amid allegations of rigging and irregularities
New government faces economic troubles and questions about legitimacy
Sharif has served as prime minister once before, younger brother of Nawaz Sharif
Shehbaz Sharif elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan
Pakistan has a new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif. He was elected for the second time in a controversial election that saw allegations of rigging and irregularities. The winner only needs to get more than half of the vote to become prime minister, which Sharif did with 201 votes while his closest rival Omar Ayub got 92.
Sharif is the younger brother of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and has served as prime minister once before. He was elected after a coalition of eight parties formed following no single party winning an outright majority in the election on February 8th, which saw allegations of rigging and irregularities.
The new government faces economic troubles and questions about legitimacy. The military has long been seen as an invisible hand guiding Pakistan's politics, but it remains to be seen how much influence they will have in the future.
Pakistan's newly elected Parliament approved Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister on Sunday
This is his second term in that role and follows a month of political turmoil
The new government faces economic and political challenges that are likely to leave the country in turmoil for years to come
Accuracy
Omar Ayub of the Sunni Ittehad Council got 92 votes in the election, while Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes and won by a margin of 118 votes.
The winner only needs to get a majority (more than half) of the vote to become prime minister.
Omar Ayub was backed by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, which could not form a government on its own after the election and refused to hold talks with rivals.
The February 8th parliamentary election in Pakistan was overshadowed by militant violence, a nationwide mobile phone shutdown, Imran Khan's exclusion from the vote due to legal issues, and an unusual delay in announcing the result.
Imran Khan's party claims that its victory was stolen through rigging of votes during counting process. The Election Commission denies this claim.
Shehbaz Sharif, in his acceptance speech, accused Imran Khan's supporters of attacking military installations while protesting his ouster and said they should present their evidence to the relevant authorities.
Imran Khan's party has vowed to continue protests against the alleged vote-rigging even after losing the election.
Relations between Pakistan and United States have been strained due to Imran Khan accusing U.S., Sharif, and Pakistani military of conspiring to keep him out of office following his ouster.
Pakistan has been relying on foreign loans to run its economy for years. The new government faces multiple issues including how to respond to a surge in militant attacks, improve relations with neighboring Afghanistan (which is now Taliban-run), repair crumbling infrastructure and resolve year-round power outages.
Sharif's biggest challenge as prime minister will be the economic situation of Pakistan. He has promised to work towards improving it.
Deception
(30%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title of the article mentions that Shehbaz Sharif has been installed as prime minister but does not mention anything about his election or how he won it. This creates a false impression that he was elected by the people when in reality, he was chosen by parliament and may have had military support. Secondly, the article quotes Talat Hussain saying that public confidence in Sharif's government is low but does not provide any evidence to back up this claim or explain why it might be low. This creates a false impression of what people think about his government when there is no concrete data to support it. Lastly, the article mentions that Khan supporters protested during the proceedings but does not mention anything about how many protesters were present or if they caused any disruptions. This creates a false impression of how significant their protests were.
The title of the article mentions that Shehbaz Sharif has been installed as prime minister but does not mention anything about his election or how he won it.
Fallacies
(70%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that the military has long been seen as an invisible hand guiding Pakistan's politics and has previously engineered its election results. This statement is not supported by any evidence presented in the article and therefore cannot be considered a valid claim.
The military has long been seen as an invisible hand guiding Pakistan's politics
This statement is not supported by any evidence presented in the article
Bias
(85%)
The article contains examples of religious bias and monetary bias. The author uses language that depicts one side as extreme or unreasonable by referring to white supremacists celebrating the reference to a racist conspiracy theory.
> GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been dog-whistling to supporters of extremist far-right ideologies and wild conspiracy theories like QAnon
verified accounts on X and major far-right influencers on platforms like Telegram were celebrating.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The authors of the article have a conflict of interest on several topics related to Pakistan and its political leaders. The author Salman Masood has previously written articles critical of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, which could compromise his ability to report objectively on their roles in the current political turmoil in Pakistan.
Christina Goldbaum has previously written articles critical of Imran Khan and his role in Pakistani politics.
Salman Masood wrote an article titled 'Nawaz Sharif's Corruption Scandals Have Left Him Vulnerable'
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Salman Masood and Christina Goldbaum have conflicts of interest on the topics of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister, political turmoil in Pakistan and economic troubles in Pakistan. They also have a personal relationship with Nawaz Sharif.
Shehbaz Sharif has been elected as Pakistan's new prime minister for the second time.
Omar Ayub of the Sunni Ittehad Council got 92 votes in the election, while Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes and won by a margin of 118 votes.
The winner only needs to get a majority (more than half) of the vote to become prime minister.
Imran Khan's party claims that its victory was stolen through rigging of votes during counting process. The Election Commission denies this claim.
Accuracy
Omar Ayub of the Sunni Ittehad Council got 92 votes in the election, while Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes and won by a margin of 118 votes. The winner only needs to get a majority (more than half) of the vote to become prime minister.
Shehbaz Sharif, in his acceptance speech, accused Imran Khan's supporters of attacking military installations while protesting his ouster and said they should present their evidence to the relevant authorities.
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(85%)
The article contains multiple examples of religious bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes and demonizes Imran Khan's supporters as 'thugs', which is a clear example of biased language. Additionally, the author also makes an assumption about the motives behind Imran Khan's protests without providing any evidence to support this claim.
The article uses language that dehumanizes and demonizes Imran Khan's supporters as 'thugs'
The author assumes that Imran Khan is protesting for personal gain, rather than out of concern for the integrity of the election process.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest in this article. The author has a personal relationship with Omar Ayub and is affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), which may compromise their ability to report objectively on topics related to PTI or its allies.
The author mentions their personal relationship with Omar Ayub in the article, stating that they have known him for many years. This could potentially influence the author's reporting on Ayub and his role in Pakistani politics.
Shehbaz Sharif has been elected as prime minister of Pakistan
Sharif secured 201 votes in the National Assembly and won by a margin of 118 votes.
The winner only needs to get a majority (more than half) of the vote to become prime minister.
Omar Ayub Khan got 92 votes in the election, while Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes and won by a margin of 118 votes.
Accuracy
Sharif secured 201 votes while his closest rival Omar Ayub got 92 votes
Omar Ayub was backed by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, which could not form a government on its own after the election and refused to hold talks with rivals.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that Sharif won against Omer Ayub by a vote that was riddled with allegations of rigging and irregularities. However, there is no evidence presented to support this claim. Secondly, the author quotes Gohar Khan as saying PTI-backed lawmakers held up posters of Imran Khan during Sunday's vote and shouted 'azadi', meaning freedom. This statement is misleading because it implies that all PTI supporters were involved in such actions when only a few were seen doing so on camera. Thirdly, the author claims that Sharif thanked his older brother Nawaz for building Pakistan, which is not accurate as Nawaz was removed from power and imprisoned due to corruption charges. Lastly, the article fails to disclose any sources or quotes from other parties who have different opinions about the election results.
The author claims that Sharif won against Omer Ayub by a vote that was riddled with allegations of rigging and irregularities. However, there is no evidence presented to support this claim.
Fallacies
(75%)
The article contains several examples of informal fallacies. The author uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing the political situation in Pakistan and the reactions to Shehbaz Sharif's election as prime minister. Additionally, there are appeals to authority made by citing sources such as PTI candidates and a senior election official who claimed they were pressured into changing votes for PTI-affiliated candidates.
The author uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing the political situation in Pakistan
There are appeals to authority made by citing sources such as PTI candidates and a senior election official who claimed they were pressured into changing votes for PTI-affiliated candidates.
Bias
(0%)
The article is biased against Imran Khan and his supporters. It uses deceptive language to portray the election as rigged and fraudulent without providing any evidence or context. It also implies that PTI-affiliated lawmakers are protesters rather than legitimate representatives of the people who voted for them.
Analysts widely agree that the new coalition government led by Sharif faces a tough road ahead. There is still substantial support for Khan and PTI on the streets and the new coalition is seen by many to lack legitimacy.
A senior election official publicly said he had been pressed into changing the votes given to PTI-affiliated candidates, though he later retracted his statement after being arrested.
Gohar Khan, who is leading the PTI while Khan is in jail, said the party would not boycott the proceedings and instead use its presence as the opposition to protest against what it described as “mandate theft”.
In his victory speech, Sharif thanked his older brother Nawaz, claiming he “was the one who built Pakistan”.
Shehbaz Sharif has been appointed prime minister of Pakistan after a vote that was riddled with allegations of rigging and irregularities.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest found in the article. The author has a personal relationship with Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz as they were previously interviewed by her for an unrelated story. Additionally, the author is affiliated with PTI through her reporting on their activities.
The author interviews Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz in a previous article.
Shehbaz Sharif has been elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a second term.
Sharif secured 201 votes in the National Assembly, comfortably prevailing over rival Omar Ayub Khan who won 92. The winner needed at least 169 votes.
Khan was backed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which is a political group of legislators belonging to former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party joined after PTI was barred from contesting for allegedly violating election laws.
Sharif served as prime minister until August last year when the National Assembly was dissolved to make way for a caretaker government, tasked with holding national elections.
Shehbaz is the younger brother of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and current PMLN president. He also serves as President of Punjab province.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had emerged as the largest group with 93 seats in the National Assembly, but alleges its mandate was stolen and has kicked off street protests against alleged rigging.
Supporters of ex-PM Imran Khan protest blatant rigging in election in Karachi.
Accuracy
Shehbaz Sharif secured 201 votes in the National Assembly while his closest rival Omar Ayub got 92 votes
Omar Ayub was backed by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, which could not form a government on its own after the election and refused to hold talks with rivals.
Imran Khan claims that his victory was stolen through rigging of votes during counting process. The Election Commission denies this claim.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, it presents the election as a contest between two candidates when in reality there were multiple parties and candidates running for prime minister. Secondly, it portrays Shehbaz Sharif's victory as legitimate despite allegations of large-scale rigging by his opponents. Thirdly, the article fails to disclose any sources or provide evidence supporting its claims about the election results.
The article presents a false narrative that only two candidates were running for prime minister when in reality there were multiple parties and candidates.
Fallacies
(75%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that the National Assembly elected Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister for a second term without providing any evidence or context about the legitimacy of this election. Additionally, there are multiple instances where the author presents information from sources without citing them properly, which can be seen as inflammatory rhetoric and an attempt to manipulate readers' opinions. The article also contains several examples of dichotomous depictions by presenting Shehbaz Sharif as a corrupt politician who came to power through rigging while portraying Imran Khan and his supporters as innocent victims of the same alleged corruption.
The author uses an appeal to authority when he states that the National Assembly elected Shehbaz Sharif without providing any evidence or context about the legitimacy of this election.
The article contains multiple instances where the author presents information from sources without citing them properly, which can be seen as inflammatory rhetoric and an attempt to manipulate readers' opinions.
The article also contains several examples of dichotomous depictions by presenting Shehbaz Sharif as a corrupt politician who came to power through rigging while portraying Imran Khan and his supporters as innocent victims of the same alleged corruption.
Bias
(80%)
The article contains examples of religious bias and monetary bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes the opposition party by referring to their supporters as 'thieves'. Additionally, there is a disproportionate number of quotes from the PTI-linked legislators who raised allegations about electoral rigging.
Thieves!
We will change the fate of Pakistan
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (0%)
Abid Hussain has conflicts of interest on the topics of Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan PM, controversial vote in National Assembly and Omar Ayub Khan. He is a member of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which may have an interest in these topics.
Abid Hussain is a member of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which has been accused by opposition parties and human rights groups of promoting sectarianism and discrimination against minority communities. The SIC has also been linked to controversial vote-rigging allegations in Pakistan's National Assembly.
