EU to help Pakistan make 2018 election more credible

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EU) is closely watching the ongoing proceedings of the Judicial Commission (JC) and is ready to help Islamabad in the election reform process to make the 2018 general election more credible for the electorate.
“Broadly speaking, the EU observers had found the last general elections held in Pakistan in accordance with the international standards. Now we will continue supporting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make the next election more credible in the eyes of the people of Pakistan,” the EU’s acting head in Pakistan Stefano Gatto said in an exclusive interview with The News this week.
The EU also asked Pakistan to improve its relations with India, as regional cooperation will help Islamabad to improve its trade and investment environment. In more than one-hour interview at the EU’s office Stefano dwelt on various issues including the ongoing parleys between the Afghan government and Taliban, efforts to strike a nuclear deal between the international community and Iran, GSP Plus for Pakistan and its next review, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), concerns of EU on condition of minorities and clarity on age of Shafqat Hussain before sending him to the gallows.
Regarding the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) investment of $46 billion from China, he said it would help the country but ultimately Pakistanis would have to resolve all its problems by themselves.He said the independence of ECP was important so different plans were in the pipeline to further strengthen the institution by bringing more reforms.
“The EU will not send itsobservers for the upcoming Local Government (LG) polls in provinces but they had observed LG polls in Balochistan,” he added.He said the EU hoped that the LG polls would be held in all other provinces. The EU had worked with provinces to improve the local government system in order to complete three-tier governance structure in the country.
Without playing any direct role for truce between the Afghan government and Taliban, he said the EU supported the ongoing efforts to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan.He said the EU would extend its all out assistance for a democratic Afghanistan and improve its governance structure.
He said they would be celebrating the European Day on May 9 (today) and political dialogue scheduled to be held with Islamabad in next week, was postponed because of EU political director Helga Schmid’s hectic engagements to finalize nuclear deal with Iran.
He said the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) plus granted by the EU had boosted Pakistan’s exports in a substantial way and now the EU would review progress on conventions by early 2016.
Pakistan’s exports, he said, increased by more than $1 billion after getting the GSP plus status.“During the next review, the EU will analyze trends to determine whether progress has been achieved in terms of all relevant conventions especially with respect to human rights, civil rights, labour and minorities rights,” he added.
By next week, he said, the Director of GSP plus would be visiting Pakistan to discuss issues related to GSP plus.He said the lifting of moratorium on death penalty was a matter of concern for the EU, as it did not come under direct jurisdiction of conventions for the massive favor by allowing zero rating exports to EU countries for next 10 years but it did come under protecting civil and political rights.
Answering a question about Shafqat Hussain, he said after getting clarity on his age the government should move ahead. “Pakistan must respect human rights,” he added.To a query about the killing of 200 people in a Karachi factory fire, he said the EU consumers were very concerned about security and safety of laborers, as they did not want to buy products where violations were committed related to labor rights.
Regarding minorities’ rights, especially violations of human rights for Christian and other minorities’, he said it was a very sensitive issue for them. The EU wrote a letter to the President of Pakistan inviting his attention towards different incidents relating to violation of minorities’ rights and sectarian violence in the country.
Pakistan, he said, was implementing National Action Plan (NAP) to root out terrorism.To another query about financial assistance for Pakistan, he said the EU had unveiled its financing plan to provide 635 million euros to Pakistan for assisting in different sectors of Islamabad’s economy including energy.
Asked about the chances of lifting sanctions on Iran allowing Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline to move ahead, he said it would depend upon the progress in terms of implementation and it would take few years to lift all sanctions.Regarding the lingering Euro zone crisis, he said Euro zone was facing the crisis of generating demand so stimulus package was under consideration for keeping economy on track.