By IANS
Islamabad : A US-based rights group has warned against postponing Pakistan’s general elections due early next year, saying this would undermine the people’s confidence in the electoral process.
“The polls must be held as per schedule,” former US Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, who is heading a four-member pre-election assessment mission of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) for international affairs, told reporters here.
During five days of meetings with government and electoral officials, political leaders and representatives of civil society and international organisations, “he urged the government to take immediate steps to contain political violence, curtail security agencies’ involvement in the electoral process and ensure equal opportunities to all the political parties and leaders”, Dawn reported Monday.
“If the elections enjoy the confidence of Pakistanis, they could help return the nation to a democratic path and end eight years of increasingly unpopular military rule.
“Elections that meet international standards could also help stabilise a nuclear power and an important strategic ally in the war on terror, which is threatened by the escalating civil strife and political violence,” Daschle maintained.
According to him, Pakistan could face increased civil conflict and the military could become further entrenched in the nation’s political life if the integrity of the elections was seriously compromised.
Daschle said escalating violence and intimidation were creating an atmosphere of fear.
He said the delegation viewed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s return to Pakistan as a positive step. However, with Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister, still in exile, “many Pakistanis would not view the polls as credible”, Daschle maintained.
He said the delegation had received “credible reports” on attempts by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other security forces to manipulate the electoral process.
“The attempts included efforts to influence local officials responsible for election administration at polling stations and to convince certain individuals not to seek their party’s nomination or to switch allegiances,” Daschle said.
“The matter of ISI’s involvement in the electoral process was raised by the delegation during its meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz,” he added.