Congress to conduct hearing on Pakistan democracy

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Mid­dle East, Africa, and Central Asia will conduct hearing on the future of democracy in Pakistan.

The Congressional hearing scheduled to be held on March 20 will delve into the dynamics of Pak-US relations following the Feb 8 general elections.

The sole witness for the hearing will be Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

Donald Lu’s alleged involvement in the cipher controversy has added significance to his testimony.

Earlier, PTI founder Imran Khan had alleged that Lu threatened to destabilise the PTI government during a March 2022 meeting with then Pakistani ambassador in Washington Asad Majeed Khan.

The issue related to Lu’s alleged threat has frequently been brought up during the State Department news briefings by journalists from the both countries.

The US State Department has consistently been dismissing these charges as baseless and unfounded.

The development shows the US State Department’s desire to resolve the controversy by providing clarification on its stance.

Appreciating the US decision, the PTI’s US chapter claimed that the efforts by Pakistani Americans led to the much-anticipated announcement of a Congressional hearing.

This hearing is expected to attract significant attendance from both Republican and Democrat legislators.