Let people decide future govt, US envoy tells CEC

Blome reaffirms Washington's support to Islamabad for free, fair elections in accordance with Constitution

ISLAMABAD:

US Ambassador Donald Blome met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja on Thursday to reaffirm the United States’ support for free and fair elections conducted in accordance with Pakistan’s laws and Constitution.

A statement issued by the US embassy spokesperson said the ambassador reiterated that choosing Pakistan’s future leaders is for the Pakistani people to decide and that Washington remains committed to working to broaden and deepen the US-Pakistan relationship with whomever the people choose.

The US ambassador's remarks came against the backdrop of uncertainty over the timing of the general elections.

Read Alvi invites CEC to fix 'appropriate date' for polls

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has already decided to go ahead with the delimitation exercise before the next polls. The entire exercise will take up to four months, meaning elections this year may not be possible.

There are also concerns that a level playing field may not be available to all the parties during the elections.

The crackdown against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and jailing of leaders, including the party chief, is also something that is seen as part of efforts to deny the party contest elections freely.

The Western capitals are closely following the developments and are keen to know when elections will take place.

Read More Interim govt has no role in fixing polls date: Solangi

It is understood that a reasonable delay based on some technical reasons may not be an issue but if the polling date goes beyond a certain time frame that may not be liked by the outside world, particularly the West.

This is the reason the meeting of the US ambassador with the CEC is seen as significant.

Alvi invites CEC

A day earlier President Arif Alvi waded into the vote debate by inviting CEC Raja to discuss fixing the poll date within the 90-day constitutional deadline ending in early November. 

Moreover, the ECP sent invitations to leading political parties for consultation on the election process. 

The development came as political leaders, lawyers’ bodies, and civil society criticised the commission for using delimitation “as an excuse for delaying the nationwide exercise”.