Islamabad, July 27 (TNS): International election observers have termed general elections 2018 an important milestone in strengthening democracy in Pakistan.
Addressing in a news conference in Islamabad today (Friday), Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group, General Abdulsalami Abubakar said people of Pakistan have shown commitment to exercising their right to vote.
He said Election Commission of Pakistan did a laudable job in terms of the short timeframe it had to implement its mandate for holding transparent elections on schedule.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar said mission urges those who have grievances about the process to seek redress through the established channels of dispute resolution.
He said mission observed that ECP was generally well prepared for the polls in most areas and that the process on the whole was well administered.
To a question, he said involvement of military in polling process was not found.
In another press conference by Chief Observer European Union Election Observation Mission Michael Gahler said electoral process of 2018 was negatively affected by the political environment.
He said counting was problematic and staff was not following procedure in some cases.
Speaking on the occasion, head of the European Parliament’s delegation to the election observation mission, Jean Lambert said that we appreciate the efforts made by the election commission to aim for greater inclusion in the electoral process particularly through the gender and disabilities working group.
