By Xinhua
Islamabad : Pakistan Wednesday sought a short postponement of the Commonwealth decision on its membership and asked the organization to immediately send a delegation to assess the situation in the country.
The appeal came one day after the Commonwealth’s human rights body Tuesday called for Pakistan’s suspension from the 53-nation bloc.
“Pakistan under Musharraf’s emergency rule has no place in the Commonwealth,” the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) said in a statement.
The CHRI said that foreign ministers gathered in the Ugandan capital of Kampala ahead of the biennial Commonwealth heads of government meeting “must act to protect the basic values of the Commonwealth and suspend Pakistan”.
Speaking at the weekly news briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq appealed to the Commonwealth to delay its decision on Pakistan.
He said that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro Tuesday night and the two prime ministers also exchanged views on the forthcoming Commonwealth head of government meeting.
“The (Pakistani) prime minister informed his British counterpart that while emergency is imposed at present, everything is being done in the spirit of the constitution. All steps taken by the government are consistent with constitutional provisions,” he said.
Soomro briefed Brown about the political developments in Pakistan and the principal mandate of the caretaker government to hold elections on Jan 8 next year. He reaffirmed that the elections would be free, fair and transparent, adding that election observers from abroad would be welcome.
Earlier, Soomro sent letters to the heads of government of Commonwealth countries, including Britain, underlining that the political situation in Pakistan was returning to normal.
Foreign Minister Inamul Haq also called the Commonwealth heads of mission in Islamabad to convey a similar message.