Loyalists of Benazir Bhutto have leaked a dossier they claim is a detailed ISI plan to rig the elections against her and support the continuing role of the military in Pakistani politics.

The 38-page dossier, which Bhutto’s supporters say she was hoping to release the day she was killed, starts with an introduction that asks: “So what does it take to be an election specialist? Well, some brains, understanding of the election procedure, a clout wrapped in currency notes and laced with a strong stench of power is what all it requires.”

“The objective is to cripple the opponent by slow and gradual measures, in a manner that is not connected plausibly with the subsequent elections”, the introduction continues. “Technically, this is the most precarious time for the opposition since they are at the complete mercy of the government and its tactics.”

Senior Benazir aide and former Pakistan High Commissioner to London Wajid Shamsul Hassan told The Indian Express, “This is a summary of what was to be given to American Congressmen on the 27th (the day Benazir was killed) over dinner.”

The purported dossier stops short of advocating assassinations, but its sub sections include details for wire tapping civil servants and the judiciary, abusing the law and manipulating lower courts, forcing bureaucrats to obey unlawful orders, systemic vilification, harassment, intimidation and character assassination of candidates, using violence to disrupt voting, as well as manipulating ballot boxes in polling stations.

“Violence may be perpetuated in the vicinity of polling stations to interrupt polling where candidates feel that voting may not be going in their favour, or where conspiracy already exists to create a situation for stuffing boxes with the connivance of the polling staff,” the alleged dossier says.

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