WASHINGTON: The United States is ready to work with whatever government comes to power in Pakistan after the country’s general elections last week, State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said on Monday.
“It was clearly a competitive election where people could exercise their choice,” Miller said in response to questions at his daily press briefing.
Answering questions, he said that there is no new government of Pakistan yet and discussions are still going on in this regard.
“One of the things we said before the election and will continue to make clear is that whoever the people of Pakistan choose to represent us, we will work with that government,” Miller added.
Thursday’s election did not leave a clear winner. To form a government, the party must win 133 of the 265 contested seats in the National Assembly.
Asked about some of the alleged irregularities in the polls, Miller said the US wanted those people to be “fully investigated”.
“Let me reiterate that we think the allegations of fraud need to be fully investigated,” he said.
“But ultimately we respect the democratic process and are ready to work with the government once it is formed.”
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He also congratulated the people of Pakistan – including election workers and observers, members of civil society and journalists who protect the country’s democratic and electoral institutions – for participating in the elections.
“We have raised concerns publicly – we have also raised them privately, joining the EU, the UK and other countries – with some of the inconsistencies we have seen in the process. We expressed the need for the Pakistani government to respect the will of the election,” Miller said.
“We repeatedly emphasize… that we want the rule of law, respect for the constitution, a free press and a vibrant civil society to be respected in the run-up to the elections. We continue to believe that this is the case. We condemn political and election-related violence and restrictions on internet and mobile phone services. This negatively affected the election service,” he added.
“The claims of interference and fraud that we have seen raised, we want to ensure that (they) are fully investigated by the Pakistani legal system and we will continue to monitor this in the coming days,” he added.
