News
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Pakistan elections a step forward: EU* Observer mission says irregularities and violence during the campaign and on election day must not overshadow the achievements of the process
ISLAMABAD: High turnout in Pakistan’s landmark election was a positive step for democracy even though the campaign was marred by violence and irregularities, a European Union observer mission said on Monday.
Violence in the run-up to polls and on Election Day itself killed over 150 people, according to an AFP tally, as the Taliban set their sights in particular on secular parties that made up the outgoing government.
Saturday’s vote was the first time a civilian government has served a full term and handed over power to another in a country that has been ruled by the military for half its life.
Violence during the campaign and on Election Day had been “terrible, but must not overshadow the achievements of the process”, Member of the European Parliament Richard Howitt told a news conference.
“The turnout in defiance of the threats against the process was an extraordinary vote of confidence in democracy itself,” he said.
“This election was a step forward, but one from which we call on all those elected to sustain their commitment to reforms, in the interests of good government for the people and governance for the state.”
Michael Gahler, chief of the mission, congratulated Pakistan’s election commission for improving its election law and voter roll, as well as ordering re-polling in a contested seat in Karachi.
But the mission said “women and vulnerable groups” were persistently under-represented” despite nearly three times the number of women candidates and a higher women’s turnout than at the last polls in 2008.
He said that violence by non-state actors unbalanced the playing field and distorted the election process considerably in the some locations, but added, “Election Day showed the commitment of the people of Pakistan to democratic governance by overcoming militant violence. We saw a competitive process, with twice as many candidates as there were in 2008. While various aspects of the election process have improved, there were still shortcomings. It is important that the framework for election is further developed, so that democracy is strengthened.”
Observers said voting procedures were mostly followed and that in a “vast majority” of stations all essential material was present, but they classified nine percent of stations visited as “poor or inadequate”.
There were 62 reported election related security incidents on Election Day resulting in 64 deaths. The ECP’s late decision to extend voting by one hour, to allow more opportunity to voters, caused confusion and was not officially announced on the ECP website. Counting was more negatively assessed by EU EOM observers.
The mission did not go at all to the southwestern, insurgency-torn province of Balochistan or the semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border where the Taliban and al Qaeda have strongholds.
It also only “undertook limited observation” in Karachi, where observers saw “some serious problems in polling and were also restricted in their activities”. Karachi was the focus of most complaints reported by rival political parties. The European Union EOM was joined by a delegation of three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) acting as short-term observers and chaired by MEP Richard Howitt.
A separate mission by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) recommended that polling results be declared null and void in seats where women were not allowed to vote.
The NDI-ANFREL mission head, former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, said: “In most places of the country, the vote was a credible expression of the will of the people.” staff report/agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk