West Warns Pakistan Against Election Delay | The Express Grandstand

ISLAMABAD:

Key Western countries have conveyed to Pakistan that any delay in the parliamentary elections beyond a certain deadline would have serious consequences for the country, including possible degradation of ties.

diplomatic sources said The Express Grandstand On Sunday that the United States and the European Union had closely followed the evolution of the elections in Pakistan, these countries had always defended democracy.

The US and the EU, according to the sources, believed that elections were the essence of any progressive democratic society. But in Western capitals there was concern that the elections would not take place in Pakistan and that the current interim structure could be maintained beyond the established time.

Elections after the dissolution of the assemblies would have to be held within 90 days according to the Constitution. However, the Council of Common Interests (CCI), during the end of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government, approved the new census results.

Read more: US wants free and fair elections in Pakistan, Blome tells PM Kakar

Faced with the ICC move, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) then announced a new delimitation exercise in accordance with the 2023 digital census, insisting that it was required by law to redraw electoral districts before the next elections. .

The exercise will last up to four months and then the elections can take place. Diplomatic sources said that a delay of a couple of months could be tolerated due to delimitation and certain technicalities.

However, if the elections are delayed beyond February next year, that could have serious consequences for the country, a source said. “Frankly, if the elections are delayed beyond February, it will be extremely difficult for us to maintain the same level of bilateral engagement with Pakistan that we are maintaining now.”

It is believed that, in the event of a delay in the elections, Western countries, which take democracy very seriously, could review their cooperation with Pakistan. This could negatively impact Pakistan’s engagement with US-led financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Western countries not only wanted elections on time, they also want a level playing field for all political parties. “This is something that we will follow closely,” said another diplomatic source, referring to the restriction of the media and the repression against certain political parties.

Also read: Let the people decide the future government, says US envoy to CEC

Last week, US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and reiterated the need for free, fair and transparent elections under the Pakistani Constitution.

A statement issued by the US embassy said the ambassador reiterated that choosing Pakistan’s future leaders was up to the Pakistani people and stressed that the United States remained committed to broadening and deepening the bilateral relationship with whomever the Pakistani people chose.

Following his meeting with the CEC, the US envoy also met with acting Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and conveyed the same message to him.

The ECP recently clarified that it has no plans to delay the elections once the delimitation process is complete. The clarification comes after reports that after the delimitation, the ECP will update voter rolls based on the new delimitation, further delaying the elections.

However, the electoral supervisor made it clear that the process of updating the electoral censuses and the delimitation progressed in parallel and that, therefore, there would be no further delays in the elections.