Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-20-Speech-3-256"
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"en.20021120.6.3-256"2
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"Madam President, Pakistan, the world’s seventh largest country with 140 million inhabitants, has, since 12 October 1999, been controlled by a military regime under General Musharraf. The eyes of the world have of course been on Pakistan since the General
to hold elections within three years of the military coup to restore democracy and civil rule in the country. A tiny, tiny part of this promise has been kept: elections have been held. Simply implementing elections does not, however, guarantee democracy. The circumstances surrounding the election must also be considered – firstly
the election in the form of legislative changes to increase the power of the military regime and its entitlement to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government, rule changes which restricted the eligibility of four percent of the population and restrictions on conducting election campaigns.
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the election in the form of pressure on individual politicians, different rules for different candidates from different parties, irregularities during the election process and restrictions on people’s opportunities to vote.
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the election in the form of a clear unwillingness to hand over power to those elected. This all means, unfortunately, that we now have to admit that this was a missed opportunity to restore democracy in Pakistan.
The consequences for the people of Pakistan cannot be stressed enough. Unemployment, poverty and illiteracy are increasing. The only path that can lead to better standards of living for the people of Pakistan involves democracy, changing from military rule to civil rule and opportunities for a democratically elected government to implement reforms in the areas of education and employment.
I see it as our duty and responsibility here in the European Parliament clearly and truthfully to report on the circumstances surrounding the election, which we were able to observe through an EU delegation which was there. We must also stress the importance of the work on restoring democracy in Pakistan continuing. I therefore support Mr Cushnahan’s statement here today. The government of Pakistan must be urged to work in a democratic direction, and the EU must continue to keep a close and critical eye on developments in Pakistan."@en1
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