Daily Times

The United States has expressed concerns about irregularities in Pakistan’s pre-voting electoral process, as reported by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), including ‘constraints placed on freedoms of expression and association during the campaign period’.

These concerns were expressed by the State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, in a statement on Friday. However, Nauert agreed with the European Union Election Observation Mission’s statement that there had been ‘positive changes to the legal framework for elections in Pakistan’.

At a news conference on Friday, European Union (EU) monitoring chief Michael Gahler said that the team gave a passing grade to Election Day balloting in Pakistan. However, it failed the pre-polling campaigning – marred by harassment and intimidation of the media including unfair targeting of the former ruling party – that overshadowed the successes of the day. “Our overall assessment of the election process is that it is not as good as in 2013,” said Gahler. Despite his criticism, he said the election results were credible.

In her statement, Heather Nauert condemned the violent attacks in Quetta leading up to the balloting. “We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families, and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” she said.

Nauert continued, the U.S. “commends the courage of the Pakistani people” highlighting, “the many women, who turned out to vote and showed resolve to determine their country’s future.”

She stressed that despite its deep reservations over the participation of individuals affiliated with terrorist outfits in the elections, the U.S. praised Pakistani voters for fully rejecting these candidates at the ballot box.

Although the statement fell short of congratulating Imran Khan, the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly, it committed to work with the new government of Pakistan. “As Pakistan’s elected leaders form a new government, the United States will look for opportunities to work with them to advance our goals of security, stability, and prosperity in South Asia,” the statement said.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.