Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-20-Speech-3-257"
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"en.20021120.6.3-257"2
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".
Madam President, hearing Mr Cushnahan and Mr Collins speak I find I must go back to my script and see whether it can really be true that what I said was so terrible. Can it be true that I did not even mention Mr Cushnahan’s criticisms? And I see in the script that in fact I did mention and praise Mr Cushnahan and that I mentioned five vehement points of criticism: 1) the constitutional changes which preceded the election, 2) the unequal access to conduct election campaigns, 3) the unequal access of the political parties to resources, 4) the unequal access to the media, and 5) the reports of manipulation in connection with the elections.
I would like to reiterate my thanks to Mr Cushnahan for the fact that he drew attention to these fundamental faults in the democratic process so clearly. But it may be that what made him and also Mr Collins so angry was my subsequent sentence, and I quote: ‘Nonetheless, it is the Council’s assessment that the holding of the election was an important step along the way towards the restoration of democracy in Pakistan’. That is not a backward-looking sentence; rather, it states that despite everything, we are talking about the step from pure dictatorship to something that is less pure dictatorship, that is, something that also has a democratic element, even with all the criticism that can otherwise be mentioned.
Of course we can ask, as Mr Cushnahan does, why the Council should make a declaration at all? But I think it is important to establish – for the sake of future election observers as well – that the EU’s observers act entirely independently of the Council. Thus a declaration by them is also entirely independent. That is how things are and it means that even if the Council has said something, the election observers can say something completely different; and if the election observers have said something, then likewise the Council can choose to refer to this a great deal or a little, can choose to look backwards or forwards. The two parties are independent of each other and I think we should retain that.
The fact that the Council found cause to make a declaration in this case must naturally be seen in the light of the following. Since the turn of the year the security situation in the region has severely deteriorated, with extensive build-ups of troops in both India and Pakistan. The situation was so acute that there was an increased risk of war. And both countries have nuclear weapons. The Council has been very much involved in the international work to encourage de-escalation, and in this connection the Council saw the election in Pakistan and the provincial elections in the Indian provinces of Jammu and Kashmir as an important step along the way towards an improvement in the situation. The Council’s declaration also called upon both India and Pakistan to take advantage of the opportunities following the elections to improve their bilateral relationship.
It is in the light of this hope for the future that the Council’s declaration is to be seen. The Council’s declaration does not diminish Mr Cushnahan’s criticism – absolutely not. I would ask Mr Cushnahan to believe this and take comfort from it, and I would like to assure him that Mr Cushnahan’s criticism has not been weakened in any way by the fact that the Council said what it said. Indeed, the Council refers to the criticism and I referred to the criticism. So can we not now allow each other this: that there is a need for election observers, that there is a need for independent reports which draw attention to everything that is not as it should be. I have mentioned five major points of criticism here, but at the same time in such a crisis-ridden region of the world there is a need for the Council to attempt to find something to hold on to in terms of a little bit of progress which can provide a hope of peace and which at any rate provides a hope of avoiding war.
I feel strongly that it is possible to work towards both – both towards complete democracy and towards pragmatic attempts to improve the opportunities for peace."@en1
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