The Europeon Union Election Observer Mission(EU EOM) chief Michael Gahler on Thursday congratulated President Asif Ali Zardari for overseeing such a smooth democratic transition of the government. Gahler called on President Zardari at Bilawal House and presented the final report on the general elections held in May 2013. He was accompanied by EU Ambassador to Pakistan Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Deputy Chief Observer Hannah Roberts and EOM First Secretary Quentin Weiler. Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar, Secretary to the President Nasreen Haq and other officials were also present at the meeting.
He thanked the president and the Government of Pakistan for inviting the mission to become part of the electoral process. He also expressed his appreciation for the cooperation and assistance extended to the mission by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ministries and departments concerned, political parties, civil society organisations and others involved in the process. Zardari appreciated the mission’s active involvement in observing and monitoring the electoral process, and its continued support towards further strengthening democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan. Senator Babar said that the president also mentioned that some political parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party, had serious reservations about some aspects of the elections and its management, but they had accepted the results for the sake of democratic continuity.
Furthermore the president said that as a result of these misgivings, a number of political parties and candidates were demanding thumb verification of ballot papers in a number of constituencies. Acceptance of the election results despite these reservations showed the political maturity and wisdom of the political parties, he added. The president noted the mission’s observation that strong democratic commitment was demonstrated during the recent elections by the state authorities, civil society, political parties and voters. He said that he was personally very pleased with the smooth democratic transition of power.
Zardari expressed his hope that this smooth transition would lay the basis for future transitions along similar lines.
The president of Pakistan added that the observations of the EU mission about the recent elections would help the departments concerned in further fine-tuning the system and taking necessary remedial measures. Discussing the measures taken for strengthening the parliament, the president said that the credit goes to the previous parliament and the political forces which achieved significant milestones, mostly through consensus. He expressed his hope that the state institutions concerned would take into account the recommendations of the mission and start the process of reformatory measures, both at policy as well as implementation level. This, he said, would help make the electoral process more transparent, objective and truly democratic and representative.
