PESHAWAR, June 23: US Elections Law expert Andrew Raucci has said that there will always be complaints about the integrity and credibility of an election held in Pakistan when the president is also the head of the army.

Pakistan needed to take steps to hold ‘free and fair’ elections as it had the legal structure but whether it was enforced was the main question, Mr Raucci observed during an interactive session with lawyers, students and academicians organised by the US consulate here at the Lincoln’s Corner of the University of Peshawar on Thursday.

“I have detected a recognition of public distrust in elections in Pakistan and the government needs to take steps in this regard,” said Mr Raucci, who has a professional experience of working in the US Congress and taking part in election campaigns.

Mr Raucci’s visit to Peshawar was part of the US support and demand for ‘free and fair elections’ in Pakistan hopefully expected to be held next year, Gotam Rana, a US Consulate official, present on the occasion said.

The credibility of the process was in the minds of the people. Elections, he said, were deemed to be democratic and credible if people knew that the government, which conducted the polls, was honest.

Pakistan had not passed the ultimate test of democracy because it was yet to see transfer of power through democratic elections in a peaceful manner, Mr Raucci said.

Comparing the US election system with that of Pakistan, Mr Raucci said the US system at times had produced mediocre presidents, but never a despot.

He said that in the US, states were responsible for conducting elections and the federal government had nothing to do with it.

He said election petitions in US were resolved in about four months but in Pakistan election petitions usually took a long time.

Mr Raucci said that he had met the chief election commissioner of Pakistan and discussed many issues.

“It is not enough to hold ‘free and fair’ elections only, but people should perceive it as such,” Mr Raucci said.

He stressed the need to train electoral staff and provide them with resources.

He also stressed the need of change of the political control at the top of the political parties.

“People clamour for change and there should be change of factions at the top,” Mr Raucci observed.

Pakistan has so many political parties and there was a ‘personality cult’ in each political party. Political culture should be established and a two-party system should be adopted.