Strasbourg, 16/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - Pervez Musharraf will appear before the parliamentary foreign affairs committee next Monday and MEPs have been able to debate the situation in the country following the death of Benazir Bhutto on 27 December. There was criticism of the Musharraf regime and MEPs called on the Pakistani president to do all he could to shed light on the assassination of the former prime minister and main adversary. With the approach of the general elections (initially planned for 8 January and then postponed till 18 February), MEPs called for a democratic, transparent and legitimate process.
Janez Lenarcic, the Slovenian secretary of state for European affairs, said that this assassination would make things worse but Pakistan now, “had to organise free and fair elections” and do all it could to guarantee conditions of adequate security. EU foreign affairs ministers will debate the situation in Pakistan during the next General Affairs/External Relations Council.
Ms Bhutto was the symbol of a modern and moderate Pakistan and had the courage to defy Islamic extremism, which she paid for with her life. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Commissioner for external relations pointed out that if there was a lesson to draw, it is that Pakistan needed a functioning democracy, with rule of law and a strong civil society. She called for the release of people arrested during and after the state of emergency and for the freedom of the press to be re-established. She was worried about security conditions and acknowledged that the election observation mission in place may formulate criticism over preparations of the election and how it is organised. Re-elected on 6 October 2007 for a new presidential mandate, Mr Musharraf has since resigned as a General and as head of the armed forces. He must now “prove his country and the world” that he is committed to democracy, she stressed.
The situation has worsened since the EP adopted its resolution on December, stressed the Spanish member José Ignacio Salafranca on behalf of the EPP-ED, going on to voice his concerns about the conditions under which the elections were held. In the same vein as him and many other of their colleagues, Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck (ALDE, Belgium) voiced the need for an “impartial investigation” to ascertain who killed Mrs Bhutto. The ban on certain media must be lifted and press freedom guaranteed, said British Labour member Robert Evans, speaking for the PES. “Press freedom is vital”, agreed his fellow British Green/EFA member, Jean Lambert, who voiced her hopes that the Member States will also abstain from extraditions to Pakistan. In the view of Véronique de Keyser (PES, Belgium), the conditions for this observation mission are specific and must not allow the circumstantial assessment of the unfolding of the elections; nor should the mission express its judgment after the ballot. (A.B.)