True legacy of Former President of Pakistan, General Musharaff who died this week.

True Musharaff Legacy and my battles with him.

Having been deeply involved in Pakistan politics for over four years on behalf of the European Council and European Parliament in a number of roles, I met General Musharraf on a number of occasions.

To read apologists for his dictatorial rule claiming that he was ?a man of easy charm and responsible for introducing liberal measures and presiding over the most democratic system in Pakistan during his tenure as President is a total travesty of the truth.

He seized power in a military coup in 1999 taking over as President in 2001. Then in April 2002 in a move which was unconstitutional he arranged for a referendum to be held to endorse his position as President. I strongly criticised this at the time.

Later that year, arrangements were made to hold a General Election in October. In preparation for that, I was nominated by EU External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten to be appointed by the EU Council as Chief Observer and Head of a 164 strong multinational and multidisciplinary European Election Observation Mission for that election. I was fortunate to have a very talented and courageous core team.

We were deployed on 7th August 2002. Our initial meetings with Ministerial representatives of the Government (who were leading military figures) and also the country’s Electoral Commission were very strained. In an obvious attempt to intimidate us, we were refused state security protection for our team members. Around this time a number of westerners had been killed in Pakistan by Islamic terrorists. Other EUEOMS operating in dangerous countries would normally have been offered security protection as a matter of course.

However, this did not deter us from fulfilling our task. At a very early stage of our work, it was clear because of changes made to the Legal Framework for the election process and procedures that the election was being rigged to deliver the result that President Musharraf wanted. These included preventing former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from being candidates which was seriously damaging to both their respective Party's electoral campaigns and greatly benefited other parties which were pro- Musharaff.

Moreover, additional changes could lead to the concentration of power in the hands of a single individual who can dismiss the elected government and institutionalise the role of the military in government. Furthermore, they altered the 1973 Pakistan Constitution from a parliamentary one to a presidential one. (Details of all of these are in my Official Chief Observers Report on the Election).

As Chief Observer and leader of the electoral mission, I declared that the election?was "seriously?flawed". That decision was warmly?welcomed by the various democratic political parties in Pakistan led?by Benazir Bhutto and others and civil society in Pakistan. Subsequent to that mission's?conclusions, on my recommendation, the European Parliament Foreign Affairs?Committee delayed the approval of the EU-Pakistan Trade and Cooperation Agreement for a number of years. It also unanimously passed a resolution drafted by myself on behalf of the committee in April 2004 condemning?the litany of abuses of Human rights while he was President.

When I announced that I was retiring as an MEP in April 2004, Benazir Bhutto paid a very warm tribute to my work in Pakistan. She stated this in an open letter which she released to the international media at the time. In her letter she said

“I write to thank you for the support you have valiantly and persistently rendered to the cause of human rights and democratic principles of Pakistan.??????????The democratic forces in Pakistan are disappointed to learn that a democratic crusader who stood up for the disempowered people of Pakistan is no longer an EU Rapporteur.

????????????????????????????????We may have lost a great supporter of the cause of human rights and democracy but you have inspired many others and illuminated the path for them to tread”

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Extract from letter from Ms Benazir Bhutto dated 19th April 2004. She was Prime Minister of Pakistan 1988-90 and 1993-96.

John Cushnahan Former European Parliament Raporteur for Pakistan 2001-04 and Former Chief Observer and Head of Mission, European Election Observation Mission for 2002 General Election.

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