EU observatory team dissatisfied over May 11 polls

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EC) election observatory team has expressed its dissatisfaction over the general elections 2013 in Pakistan and said Election Commission did not fulfill its responsibility completely, Geo News reported.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the EU team chief Michael Gahler said the Returning Officers changed the polling staff at the eleventh hour, and the ECP had no record of it.

He said the EU team remained in Pakistan from March 3 to June 4 and have freely prepared a comprehensive report on election process.

Michael Gahler said the ECP did not fulfill its responsibilities completely and that all the candidates were not given equal right to contest elections. He said nomination papers of some candidates were rejected from one constituency, while on the other these were accepted.

Process of preparing results was very slow, he said and added that allegations of rigging started from the day one of elections.

The EU team leader suggested that the ECP should take all the responsibility of election process on its own shoulders.

Michael Gahler said they had not received any complaint regarding influence of intelligence agencies on the elections process.