KARACHI, Oct 11: A 13-member SAARC Election Observer Mission, currently visiting Pakistan to monitor and observe the general elections, has termed the voting procedures transparent but tedious.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi press Club (KPC) on Friday, Mr Jewan from Sri Lanka, Mr Farooq A. Chaudhary from Bangladesh and Mr Aryan from Nepal said this was the 5th visit of the delegation to the country to observe an election process.

They said the observer group had been constituted by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and their visits were financially supported by NORAD, the development agency of the government of Norway.

Mr Jewan said the members of the group had observed the election process in the four provinces and Islama-bad covering 94 NA constituencies.

They said they had visited a total of 671 polling stations and the government of Pakistan had provided army and police security. He said: “Our escorts did not influence our observations nor did they guide us to locations of their choice; rather they facilitated our movements” he added.

He said the polling stations observed catered to an average of one thousand one hundred voters per station ( with a maximum of around one thousand one hundred voters per station), a considerable reduction of numbers per polling station from the past occasions.

“Most presiding officers and other staff interpreted electoral laws and practices in a uniform manner, although we observed in some instances that interpretations were not uniform,” he said.

Mr Jewan said the polling staff undertook a formidable task with diligence and due courtesy and the physical infrastructure was adequate in most instances, though not necessarily most comfortable for voters and staff alike.

“Apart from eight deaths and a few cases of injuries due to violence, the peaceful environment spoke of the efforts of the law and order machinery, however the voters turnout by South Asian standards was modest,” he said.