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CMAG Urges Pakistan to Speed Up Democractic Development

22 September 2005

 Pakistan Election
CMAG stressed that there were areas where improvements still needed to be made to the electoral process and the political environment in Pakistan.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) has again repeated its call to Pakistan to speed up its democratic development. The Group, which met in New York on 17 September 2005 in the wings of the 60th United Nations General Assembly, expressed concern on the slow progress in the country's democratisation.

In a statement released at the end of the meeting, CMAG reaffirmed that the holding by the same person of the offices of the Head of State and Chief of Army Staff is incompatible with the basic principles of democracy and the spirit of the Harare Commonwealth principles, as well as CMAG's expectations. It also restated its strong view that until the two offices are no longer combined in the same person, the process of democratisation in Pakistan will not be irreversible. The Group again urged President Pervez Musharraf to relinquish one of his two offices no later than the end of the current presidential term in 2007.

It stressed that there were areas where improvements still needed to be made to the electoral process and the political environment in Pakistan since the Group's assessment of the South Asian nation at its last meeting in London, UK, in February this year.

CMAG endorsed the recommendations of the Commonwealth Expert Team, which observed Pakistan's local bodies' elections in August 2005, to strengthen the independence of the Election Commission and empower it to use its executive powers to enforce its decisions and the code of conduct for elections.

The Group noted Pakistan's positive engagement with the Commonwealth in support of genuine democratic reform, and requested the Commonwealth Secretary-General to intensify ongoing high-level contact with Pakistan and for the Commonwealth Secretariat to continue extending all possible technical assistance to support Pakistan in its transition to full democracy.

CMAG urged the Government of Pakistan to continue and intensify progress in fostering a sustainable and inclusive political culture, improving democratic governance, strengthening political and oversight institutions, supporting local governments, protecting human rights, respecting media freedoms and improving the position of women and minorities. It also called for the further widening of the democratic space to facilitate greater participation in the electoral process.

The CMAG meeting was chaired by Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olu Adeniji, and was attended by Samoa's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi; Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service of The Bahamas, Frederick A Mitchell (Vice-Chair); Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew; India's Minister of External Affairs, K Natwar Singh; Malta's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Michael Frendo; Sri Lanka's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Anura Bandaranaike; and the United Republic of Tanzania's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Dr Abdul-Kader Shareef.

The Group will meet again in Malta on 24 November 2005, on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, to review further developments.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 253, 21 September 2005

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