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US senators say Pakistan polls credible (Senators Kerry, Biden, Hagel monitoring Paki elections)
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 2/19/08 | Masroor Gilani

Posted on 02/19/2008 6:33:31 PM PST by NormsRevenge

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A team of US senators who monitored Pakistan's parliamentary elections said Tuesday the vote was credible and legitimate, representing a historic moment for the country.

Senators John Kerry, a former US presidential candidate, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel observed the vote held Monday in which President Pervez Musharraf's allies were facing a rout, according to unofficial results.

Kerry said that "even if the election was not meeting the highest standard," it "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the Pakistani people" as well as observers.

Opposition figures had alleged massive rigging in the run-up to the polls in favour of the Pakistan Muslim-Q party that supports Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led "war on terror."

In Washington, the State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters that Pakistan "has taken a step towards the full restoration of democracy."

Kerry said that while it was "not a perfect election, not many have been in many parts of the world."

The US senator said the vote was "truly an historic, decisive moment for Pakistan" and praised people for coming out to cast their ballots despite the threat of violence.

"That unbelievable commitment to change is a dedication to the democratic process and I think it makes a profound statement to the country, to the region and the world," he said.

Biden said Musharraf met with the senators and was prepared to accept the results of the poll.

"He came in and started off the meeting by saying that people have spoken, results are clear and he is prepared to abide by and cooperate with whatever the ensuing coalition government comes forth with," Biden said.

Biden said the result, in which hardline Islamic parties were also almost wiped out, showed that most Pakistanis were moderate.

"It was a credible election. The people of Pakistan seem to have been satisfied with the outcome," he told reporters.

"The bottom line here is that the will of the moderate -- and the vast majority of Pakistani people are moderate and democratic -- is becoming a reality," he added.

Biden also called for a "tripling" in non-military assistance over the next 10 years to build schools, roads, healthcare centres and infrastructure.

Pakistan has received about 10 billion dollars in US aid, most of it military, since Musharraf supported the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and abandoned Pakistan's support for the Taliban regime in 2001.

Hagel said the senators had also met with Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a senior member of the PML-Q.

"We found all the representatives and leaders of various parties ready to come together and form the government and work on behalf of the people of Pakistan and we were impressed by that," he said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: credible; pakistan; polls; senators

1 posted on 02/19/2008 6:33:33 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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US Senator John Kerry, in Pakistan as part of a team to observe parliamentary elections, said Tuesday the vote "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy."(AFP/Aamir Qureshi)


2 posted on 02/19/2008 6:34:23 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
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To: NormsRevenge

Am I the only one who wonders if that group would have said the same thing had the election gone the other way?


3 posted on 02/19/2008 6:35:14 PM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: If the Truth would help them, they would use it.)
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U.S. senators, from left, John Kerry, D-Mass., Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., speak during a media conference at a hotel in Islamabad, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of several U.S. lawmakers who observed Pakistan's parliamentary elections, said Tuesday the results mean the United States can shift its Pakistan policy. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)


4 posted on 02/19/2008 6:37:00 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE’s toll-free tip hotline —1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRGeT)
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To: NormsRevenge
Kerry said that "even if the election was not meeting the highest standard," it "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the Pakistani people"

Kinda sounds like what he said about his service in Vietnam.

5 posted on 02/19/2008 6:40:09 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Benedict Arnold was against the Terrorist Surveillance Program)
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To: NormsRevenge

I feel dumber just LOOKING at that picture


6 posted on 02/19/2008 6:40:37 PM PST by digger48 (http://prorev.com/legacy.htm)
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To: NormsRevenge

Could we trade these three for Bin Laden?


7 posted on 02/19/2008 6:41:22 PM PST by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: NormsRevenge

And what do these three know about credibility?


8 posted on 02/19/2008 6:41:22 PM PST by FreePaul
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To: rlmorel

It is obviously worse than that,
They are hoping for a loss in the world wide war on terror.
The only good dimorat is a dead one.


9 posted on 02/19/2008 6:43:00 PM PST by genghis
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To: NormsRevenge
Senators John Kerry, a former US presidential candidate, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel observed the vote held Monday

Would someone explain how this could be anything more than a junket? How are they supposed to credibly "observe" the elections of an entire country, let alone one steeped in third world Islamic deceipt?
10 posted on 02/19/2008 6:44:24 PM PST by farmer18th (Conservatives who vote McCain are like abused dogs who keep licking their master's hand...)
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To: NormsRevenge
election

Biden: "The official at the polling station had this wide of stance."

11 posted on 02/19/2008 6:46:29 PM PST by teacherwoes ("It is vain to expect a well-balanced government without a well-balanced society" -Gideon Welles)
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To: NormsRevenge
Kerry said that "even if the election was not meeting the highest standard," it "meets the basic threshold of credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the Washington State election commission"
12 posted on 02/19/2008 6:47:41 PM PST by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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To: NormsRevenge
What a depressing photo. That's what floats to the top in DC.
13 posted on 02/19/2008 6:52:25 PM PST by Ken H
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To: Ken H

John Kerry’s the jerk who still denies the extent of North Vietnam’s reeducation camps and massacres. What a great guy to send abroad to lend legitimacy to foreign political processes.


14 posted on 02/19/2008 6:56:40 PM PST by manapua
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To: beebuster2000; maine-iac7; lancer; voletti; GOPJ; Tigen; AliVeritas; Grimmy; gonzo; ...
Pakistan ۋﮧ۱م

FReepmail if you want on or off
15 posted on 02/19/2008 6:56:58 PM PST by G8 Diplomat
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To: NormsRevenge

"Well, sure, it was a good enough election by Democrat standards. No more than 50% of the voters were dead."


16 posted on 02/19/2008 6:57:41 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: NormsRevenge
These guys are worthy of more confidence and respect..


17 posted on 02/19/2008 6:58:19 PM PST by river rat (Semper Fi - You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: genghis

Well, I wouldn’t go that far, genghis...

I simply don’t want people like them making decisions on my behalf or in my name, which is precisely what they do.

I just wish they would leave public life.


18 posted on 02/19/2008 7:00:57 PM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: If the Truth would help them, they would use it.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Even more US Senate crapola.


19 posted on 02/19/2008 7:15:51 PM PST by onedoug
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To: NormsRevenge

I won’t believe it until Jimmah tells me so.


20 posted on 02/19/2008 7:25:23 PM PST by Duck Fan
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