ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador in Pakistan Donald Blome has reiterated that choosing Pakistan’s future leaders is for the Pakistani people to decide adding Washington remains committed to working to broaden and deepen the US-Pakistan relationship with whomever the people choose.
The statement, being seen as significant, came against the backdrop of uncertainty over the timing of the general elections in Pakistan.
The US ambassador met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja here Thursday to reaffirm the US support for free and fair elections conducted in accordance with country’s laws and Constitution.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has already started inviting heads of political parties to discuss timeframe for the elections and also decided to go ahead with the delimitation exercise. The entire exercise will take up to four months, meaning elections may not be possible this year.
There are also concerns that a level playing field may not be available to all the political parties during the forthcoming elections. The Western envoys are closely monitoring the developments in Pakistan and are keen to know when elections will take place.
