ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The European Union (EU) plans to increase its economic assistance three-fold after Pakistan’s transition to full democracy through the upcoming general elections, the EU ambassador in Islamabad told Dawn on Tuesday.
“We are not linking the two but that transition would be a turning point for Pakistan,” said Jan De Kok, EU Head of Delegation.
He said that like others in the international community the EU had its eyes on Pakistan’s general elections. “It follows therefore that we follow these developments in Pakistan with great interest and cautious concern.
“We are convinced that democracy is the only way forward. It is the only way in which Pakistan, and for that matter any other nation, can achieve long-term stability and sustainable development.”
He said the EU had finalised a plan to increase Pakistan’s annual grant assistance three-fold to offer an all-time high 400 million euros ($540 million) but the Union wanted fair, free and transparent election to sustain democracy and avoid emergency or the martial law.
He, however, said the EU did not know about the timing of the elections to send their observers to Pakistan like the one happened in 2002. “We need to know from the government as to when we should send our observers. I am saying this because it will take some time to arrange 130 to 150 election observers,” he added.
About the President Gen Musharraf’s uniform, Ambassador De Kok said that it was fast becoming a constitutional issue and perhaps would eventually be decided by the Supreme Court. “I have met many people in Pakistan and nobody could give me any conclusive answer about the constitutional position of Musharraf on the issue of his uniform,” he said hoping that next few weeks would decide many issues including that of dual position of the president.
Responding to a question, he said some of the amendments in the Constitution will have to be removed to have fully-fledged democracy in Pakistan. “It does not give a best image of Pakistan to have those provisions which allow the president to hold two offices”.
In reply to a question, be said before EU election observers could come to Pakistan a number of things needed to happen. “One, we need a written invitation from the government. Two, a date for elections has to be announced. Three, there needs to be an enabling environment. If they are deployed their report will depend on whether the observers believe that the elections have been held in accordance with international acceptable standards”.
To a question, he said that political relations between Pakistan and the EU were “OK”. Both Pakistan and EU have not had much dialogue for a number of years, but they have revived that recently with the first meeting of the Joint Commission (JC). Four subgroups in trade, cooperation, science and technology governance, human rights and migration have been established to deepen and broaden the political dialogue.
“Our economic relations are pretty strong. The EU is the largest market for Pakistani products. There is always scope for improvement. But Pakistan needs to diversify its export base and produce goods with higher value,” he believed.
Pakistan’s relations with the EU, he pointed out, were evolving. “Pakistan is an important partner. It is a significant player in the region. Our relations are certainly not stagnating,” he said when asked whether these relations were stagnating.
He said Pakistan benefited from the normal General System of Preferences (GSP) programme and it did, therefore, have certain benefits. There are no other special programmes foreseen.
He was asked why EU was promoting its relations with India while it was not giving an equal treatment to Pakistan. “India is India and Pakistan is Pakistan. Our relations with Brazil or Australia have developed also. Why always this reference to India. There are different dynamics at play,” he replied.
To a question, he said EU development programme with Pakistan is among the highest in Asia, four times that of Sri Lanka, equal to Bangladesh, 25 times bigger than Thailand, almost equal to Indonesia and India and more than 3 times bigger than Philippines.
“The EU is a very significant donor. The World Bank and the ADB provide loans. We provide grants. We increased our assistance more than 3-fold on an annual basis, starting this year and maintaining this for at least the next 7 years.
“We are normally operating in the social sectors. We do not finance “bankable” projects. That is typically for the WB and ADB. But again those moneys need to be paid back, with interest. Ours are a gift,” he said.
