World | Pakistan
Some fraud likely in February 18 polls - Boucher
A senior US diplomat said yesterday some fraud was to be expected in Pakistan's elections on February 18 but the United States was working hard to ensure a poll that is "as free and fair as possible".
- Reuters
- Published: 01:28 January 31, 2008
Washington: A senior US diplomat said yesterday some fraud was to be expected in Pakistan's elections on February 18 but the United States was working hard to ensure a poll that is "as free and fair as possible".
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher made the comments at a congressional hearing where lawmakers questioned whether a fair election was possible under President Pervez Musharraf, who has fired Supreme Court justices, placed restrictions on the media and detained opposition lawyers.
The election is meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in Pakistan, a US ally which has suffered from a surge of attacks by Al Qaida-linked militants based on the Afghan border.
Fears about the stability of Pakistan, which Musharraf has ruled since he seized power as a general in a bloodless coup in 1999, have been aggravated by the December 27 assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Electoral abuses
Boucher said Pakistan has a history of electoral abuses but that the United States had worked to counter this by supporting observer missions, creating US embassy teams to monitor key races and pressing the government to ensure transparency.
"We don't necessarily accept a certain level of fraud but, if history is any guide and current reports are any guide, we should expect some," Boucher, the top US diplomat for South and Central Asia, told the lawmakers.
"We continue to work very hard to try to ensure an election that's as free and fair as possible."
Speaking in London on Friday, Musharraf said the election would be "free, fair, transparent and peaceful", adding that "any bugs in the system that could be manipulated have been removed by me and the election officials".
Boucher faced scepticism from lawmakers who pressed him on why the United States has not demanded that Musharraf reinstate the Supreme Court justices he dismissed in November.
"Our view is that the issue of an independent Pakistani judiciary can't be solved that simply," Boucher said, adding he did not expect Pakistan to address the matter until after the elections, when he hoped that elected politicians could decide how to build an independent judiciary.
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