ISLAMABAD, Aug 12: John Cushnahan, Chief observer of the European Union Election Mission, said in a categorical statement on Monday that his mission would not interfere in the internal politics of Pakistan.

He made this statement in response to a string of recent media reports about concerns of government spokespersons that the mission was interfering in the country’s internal politics.

In what appeared to be a damage control exercize, a Press release was issued by the European Union office here on Monday. It reiterated Mr Cushnahan’s position of non-interference in Pakistan’s internal politics at great length.

“I have stressed at our initial press conference, at every subsequent media interview and every single meeting with political parties that a fundamental principle of how the mission would operate is a pledge that we will not interfere in the internal politics of Pakistan. We have honoured that pledge and will continue to do so. This pledge of non-interference has also been stressed at all our meetings with the government authorities and the Chief Election Commissioner,” said the chief observer of the EU mission.

He dispelled the notion that his mission would propose any sanctions if it was dissatisfied with the electoral process. “At no stage since the establishment of the mission did I ever suggest that our mission would recommend the use of sanctions, even if it were conclude that the election process was flawed. In fact, I have made it absolutely clear that this is not one of our functions and would be outside our mandate.”

Underlining the objective of his mission, Mr Cushnahan noted: “Our sole purpose here is to observe Pakistan’s general election on the basis of established international criteria and to produce a report at the end of our mission evaluating the elections in line with these criteria.” He added: “This report will be forwarded to the EU Commission, at which stage we will have completed our task.”

In an interview with an English daily here last week Mr Cushnahan hinted that the EU observers felt unwelcomed.

The EU’s Election Observation Mission arrived in Pakistan on Aug 4 and will stay until after the election day. In the coming weeks a total of 164 observers from all 15-member EU member states will be deployed throughout the country.

The European Union has fielded its largest election team to observe the entire electoral process.