ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI, 13 October — Observers from the European Union yesterday blamed Pakistan’s government for “serious flaws” in its general election, saying authorities had favored parties which backed President Pervez Musharraf.
“The holding of a general election does not in itself guarantee the establishment of a democracy,” the EU’s chief election observer, John Cushnahan, told a news conference.
“Regrettably... the Pakistan authorities engaged in a course of action which resulted in serious flaws in the electoral process.”
An EU report said authorities had misused state resources to favor political parties — in particular the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) which emerged as the strongest party in the election.
With nearly all the votes counted by 4 p.m. (1100 GMT), the six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) religious alliance won 45 seats, a stunning gain over 1997 elections when the religious parties took only four.
A party backing President Musharraf was by far the strongest faction with 78 seats followed by banned ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with 62 seats
The EU observers criticized the government’s moves to limit the power of the new legislature, its bar on opposition candidates and its use of government resources to help pro-Musharraf candidates.
“The restoration of democracy in this country is about the transfer of power from a military to a civilian administration,” Cushnahan said.
“The powers that have been reserved to the president and the National Security Council raise serious questions as to whether or not this will happen.”
He cited the unequal access to state resources and state media, the degree of freedom of candidates to organize, in particular due to a ban on political rallies and processions, and cast doubts on the independence of the Election Commission. (The Independent)
