Islamabad, 06 October 2021 (TDI): The Ambassador of the European Union to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Andoulla Kaminara, and German Ambassador to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck held a meeting with the officials of the Elections Commission of Pakistan.
The meeting was held to deliberate on important recommendations made by the European Union’s Election Observation Mission 2018. The recommendations made by the mission were made in a 91-page report of the 2018 general elections in Pakistan.
The report made observations of several phases of the elections, from before the registration process of the candidates began to the announcement of results.
Some important recommendations made by the European Union to improve reliability, smoothness, and transparency were:
- That the constitution should be amended and brought to internationally acceptable standards by giving the right to the office of the president and prime minister to all citizens irrespective of their religion.
- That the criteria of honest and truthful for the candidates be legally determined. The EU Mission noted several irregularities and inconsistencies regarding this criterion in the last elections
- Steps should be taken to remove numerous technical inconveniences That the information regarding the candidates, political parties, and the protocols for elections should be published widely and well before the elections.
- Public confidence should not be compromised because of delays in the publication of results. A robust process ensuring timely announcement of results must be in place.
- The civil ownership of the election process must be ensured. Security forces, including the army, should be limited to outside the polling stations.
- A limit is set for the expenditure of political parties on elections to ensure a level playing field and improve the quality of the process.
The mission also discussed the role of women in the elections and the financial aspects of local elections. It is expected that the election commission will make marked improvements in the next year based on the findings of the Mission.
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