High turnout in Pakistan’s landmark election was a positive step for democracy despite the fact the campaign was marred by violence and irregularities, an EU observer mission said on Monday.
Violence during the campaign and on the election day had been “terrible, but must not overshadow the achievements of the process”, MEP 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. 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,” he said.
Releasing its preliminary report in Islamabad this afternoon Michael Gahler, chief of the mission, congratulated Pakistan’s election commission for making improvements to its election law and improving its voter roll, as well as ordering re-polling in a contested seat in Karachi.
Gahler said parties‚ candidates and voters continued to participate in the electoral process despite high levels of militant attacks in parts of the country.
The report said the election day showed the commitment of the people of Pakistan to democratic governance by overcoming militant violence. He said the mission saw a competitive process‚ with twice as many candidates as there were in 2008. It is important that framework of the elections is further developed‚ so that democracy is strengthened.
Gahler said of the stations they visited‚ polling was generally rated as satisfactory or good but was rated as poor or inadequate in nine percent of stations. He said the Election Commission’s late decision to extend voting by one hour‚ caused confusion.
Speaking on behalf of the members of the European Parliament‚ Richard Howitt said the turnout in defiance of the threats against the process was an extraordinary vote of confidence in democracy itself.
The mission will remain the country till fifth of next month to observe the tabulation of results and electoral dispute resolution mechanisms. It will publish its final report‚ containing detailed recommendations‚ within two months of the conclusion of the electoral process.
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.
Observers said voting procedures were mostly followed and that in a “vast majority” of stations all essential material was present, but classified nine percent of stations visited as “poor or inadequate”.
It also only “undertook limited observation” in Karachi, where the mission said 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.
