WASHINGTON, Aug 29: The US State Department said on Wednesday that American officials had discussed the government-opposition contacts with some folks in Pakistan and expect to hear more from the parties involved.
“We’re looking closely at what is going on in the Pakistani politics, but I think we’d like to be observers rather than direct participants at this point,” the department’s deputy spokesman Tom Casey told a briefing.
“We maintain contacts with representatives of all the major political parties and factions in Pakistan,” he said.
“I’m sure that we’ve had discussions at least with some of the folks in Pakistan about their views on these discussions.”
Mr Casey described the government-opposition talks as a process the Pakistanis need to work through on their own but added: “I expect we’ll have an opportunity to hear from individuals from those parties over the coming days.”
He acknowledged that the US administration had been keenly watching the talks between the representatives of President Pervez Musharraf and those of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and others.
“The primary concern for the United States and Pakistan is that there (should) be free, credible and transparent elections there,” said the spokesman, “elections that allow the Pakistani people to have a real and full choice among all the legitimate political actors and parties in that country.”
The United States, he said, would want to see the government-opposition talks to end in a process that’s credible.
The entire political process, he said, also end in the formation of a government that’s going to have the support of the people and that will allow Pakistan to continue to be a force for positive change and a force to work with the United States in the fight against extremism.
Explaining the US policy on President Musharraf’s decision to quit the army before seeking re-election as president, the State Department official recalled that the Pakistani leader has made certain commitments with regard to his status as army chief, and these are issues that we expect he and the others in the Pakistani political system will continue to deal with as they approach the election.
Asked if the United States would want to see him step down as the army chief, Mr Casey said: “We want to see this worked out in a way that allows for a set of free and fair elections and one that’s credible in the eyes of the Pakistani people.”
He said the United States expects Gen. Musharraf to honour his commitment as it expects all world leaders to honour the promises they’ve made.
Mr Casey said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who telephoned President Musharraf earlier this month to urge him not to impose a state of emergency in Pakistan, has not spoken again to him or any other Pakistani leader at least in the past one week.
The State Department official said that he would not want to say at this stage whether Washington trusts Gen. Musharraf for holding fair or free elections. “This is one of these issues where everyone, I think, will be able to take a pretty clear look at the electoral process and be able to make a determination that’s pretty clear-cut as to what kind of process it was and how free and fair it was,” he added.
