Pakistan needs to do more for ‘credible’ polls: Miliband
LONDON, Jan 7: Pakistan must do more to ensure “credible” elections next month, including freeing all political detainees and lifting remaining media curbs, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday.
In a statement to lawmakers, he reiterated it was “regrettable” that elections were delayed by six weeks to February 18, following last month’s assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
He welcomed President Pervez Musharraf’s decision to stand down as army chief, to lift a state of emergency and most media restrictions and to release almost all political detainees.
“But more needs to be done, and we have continued to stress the Pakistani government’s responsibility to create a level playing field under which credible and transparent elections can take place,” Miliband said.
“This means that all remaining political detainees need to be released and the remaining restrictions on the media must be lifted.
“We continue to call on the government of Pakistan to improve the prospects for credible elections, particularly by increasing transparency, both now and on election day itself.
This includes detailing where all the 54,000 polling stations will be, posting the results for each station publicly immediately after the count, “and ensuring that the media’s ability to report is untrammelled,” he said.
Miliband noted that a five-member strong team of police from Scotland Yard had travelled to Pakistan to help investigate the death of Ms Bhutto, a former prime minister who led the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party.
He paid tribute to Ms Bhutto, telling lawmakers: “The target of her assassins is all those committed to democracy in Pakistan, and it is vital that they do not succeed.
“The courage shown by Ms Bhutto is now required of others as they take forward the drive for democracy and modernisation,” he added.—AFP
