A 100-member European Union Election Observation Mission is all set to monitor July 25 general election with a hope this will strengthen the country's democratic process. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chief Observer Michael Gahler, a member of the European Parliament from Germany, said the Mission has a mandate to observe all aspects of the electoral process.
"It is a great privilege to have been given the opportunity to lead once again the EU Election Observation Mission to Pakistan for the upcoming election," he said, adding the July 25 election is important for Pakistan's democracy.
"I am very much hopeful that our presence will contribute to a transparent electoral process," he said. He said that the Mission is currently made up of a core team of 10 election analysts based in Islamabad while sixty long-term observers are reaching here in next few days for deployment across the country in early July.
"Following the arrival of long-term observers in their areas of observation, they will start meeting with election officials, candidates and representatives of civil society," he said. Gahler said that they will report their observations back to the core team in Islamabad and these will contribute to the Mission's informed and impartial assessment of the electoral process.
He said the EU EOM will also be joined by a delegation of seven members of the European Parliament as well as diplomats from European embassies residing in Pakistan. The Mission will issue a preliminary statement soon after the Election Day, he said, adding that the Mission will stay in Pakistan until September to compile a comprehensive final report, including recommendations for future electoral processes that will be published approximately two months later.
He said main objectives of EU Election Observation are to support the democratic process in partner countries, enhance public confidence in the electoral process, and strengthen respect for human rights and rule of law.
To a question, he said the law and order in Pakistan is much better as compared to that of year 2013, adding that the code of conduct issued by the ECP for foreign mission will not create any hurdles in the working of the EU Mission.
The EU deployed election observation missions to Pakistan in 2002, 2008 and 2013, with the last two being led by Gahler.