EU presses Musharraf for pledge on 'free and fair' elections

MEPs are seeking assurances from Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf that Pakistan’s elections in February will be fair.

“We will be trying to hold him to his word," Robert Evans, chair of the parliament’s delegation for relations with South Asia said Tuesday.

He added that "the jury is still out" on Musharraf's claims that Pakistan has the most free and independent media, "possibly in the world".

Musharraf spoke to the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Monday, calling on the EU for help in the fight against terror, and for access to EU markets.

An EU mission about 100-members strong will be sent to Pakistan for elections on 18 February, under the leadership of German EPP-ED deputy Michael Gahler.

Speaking to the Parliament Magazine, Evans described a “more defensive and less slick” President Musharraf and said the Pakistani leader was “less formidable” than he has been in such meetings before.

Neena Gill, Socialist MEP and chairman of parliament’s delegation for relations with India, said, “We are very much looking to Musharraf and Pakistan’s authorities to really turn their commitments and assurances here into real actions.

“Far too often we’ve had warm words but deeds and actions haven’t matched those.”

Musharraf said that Pakistan is at the forefront of the fight against terror and called for EU assistance in that role.

“Help us, please, instead of criticising us and casting insinuations against us and our intelligence agencies,” he said.

He also said that because of Pakistan’s role in fighting terror, the country is the “most deserving case” for the granting of a free trade agreement with the EU.

The alleviation of poverty and the creation of jobs were at the heart of Pakistan’s long-term strategy to combat extremism, he explained.

Evans said: “Pakistan is a country of about 160m people and punches well below its weight from the point of view of international trade,”

“But there’s no point in damning a country and being surprised when it implodes.”

The EU is Pakistan’s largest trading partner and according to the commission, EU imports from Pakistan grew to €3.4 billion in 2005.

The EU gives aid to Pakistan under various plans, including the country strategy paper and a trade-related technical assistance programme launched in 2004.

Projects implemented under the country strategy paper for 2002 to 2006 amounted to around €125m in funding.

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