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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISLAMABAD 011883 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
USAID PASS TO MARK WARD AND RICKI GOLD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PK AADP EAID
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL ELECTION MONITORING IN PAKISTAN 
 
REF: A) ISLAMABAD 9890 B) ISLAMABAD 10467 
 
ISLAMABAD 00011883  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR RYAN C. CROCKER; REASON 1.4 (G) 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  Effective monitoring is vital to strengthen 
the credibility of Pakistan's upcoming elections.  Among 
other things, this requires strong coordination and a broadly 
international response. Multiple election monitoring 
initiatives involving many donors will waste scarce resources 
and lead to a duplication of effort.  Now is the time to 
begin engaging with like-minded partners to ensure that 
election-related programs, including election monitoring and 
observation plans, are as streamlined, coordinated and 
cohesive as possible.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (U)  Per reftels, post strongly believes that 
international observation of the upcoming Pakistan elections 
will be critical to ensuring a free and fair contest.  During 
previous elections, including local contests in 2005, 
candidates routinely engaged in blatant violations of 
election laws and regulations during the voting process. 
These violations were perpetrated mostly by candidates and 
parties linked to the central government.  Anecdotal evidence 
from the 2002 national and 2005 local elections suggests that 
violations were considerably higher in districts in which 
international observers were not present.  Indeed, opposition 
parties are convinced that the presence of such observers 
prevented substantial fraud in certain Punjabi districts 
during the second round of voting in 2005. 
 
¶3.  (C) Domestic observation, which has been routine and 
widespread in Pakistani elections since the late 1980s, has 
demonstrated no similar deterrent effect.  In addition, many 
civil society groups, including the traditional leader in 
this field, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, are 
closely aligned with a single party, undermining the 
credibility of such groups when it comes to election 
observation.  Political parties and the Election Commission 
of Pakistan have consistently reiterated to post that a 
robust international observation effort is both desired and 
critical to provide parties and voters with confidence in the 
process. 
 
¶4.  (U) Observation approaches to the next election should 
reflect an understanding of what worked and what did not work 
previously.  A major problem in the past has been the scope 
and mandate of international election observation.  Over the 
coming months, the international community needs to shape a 
monitoring effort that places teams under the auspices a of 
credible international organization in a significant number 
of representative districts.  Security issues (especially in 
FATA and parts of the NWFP and Baluchistan) and the vast size 
of the Pakistan electorate (Punjab province alone has a 
larger population than Germany, while Sindh,s population 
exceeds that of Spain or Poland) probably preclude universal 
coverage.  However, credible coverage must be based on the 
fact that observers are available to cover wide areas of both 
rural and urban Pakistan.  While teams would be organized by 
and under the auspices of international organizations, 
personnel in many cases would be from Pakistan. 
 
¶5.  (U) While most attention understandably focuses on the 
day of elections, approaches to observations also need to 
ensure that the nomination and campaign process is also 
monitored.  In addition, efforts should be made to ensure an 
appropriate parallel vote tabulation (PVT) to supplement the 
observation.   (Note: PVT is a forecast or verification of 
electoral results based on actual observation of the vote 
count in statistically significant, randomly selected polling 
places; it is also called "sample-based parallel vote 
tabulation" or "sample-based quick count," to distinguish it 
from "comprehensive parallel vote tabulation" or 
"comprehensive quick count" End Note).  This will provide 
independent verification of the results and help prevent 
fraud through changing election results, a frequent point of 
contention between political parties. 
 
 
ISLAMABAD 00011883  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6.  (U) Finally, any effective approach to election 
observation must be truly international.  The worst thing 
would be for the U.S. alone to become too engaged or be seen 
as too far ahead of the rest of the international community. 
Indeed, the broader the international involvement, the more 
credible the observation effort - and, ultimately, the 
elections themselves.  We should contribute to the election 
observation process and we should help shape that process. 
But our efforts and engagement should be as part of a broader 
effort that involves other donors and other countries.  In 
this instance, the larger the donor pool, the better. 
 
¶7.  (C) From our perspective, a single, coordinated 
monitoring initiative that is truly international in scope 
would reduce duplication, ensure donors issue similar 
conclusions and prevent allegations that the USG is bent on 
manipulating results to favor any particular side.  US-only 
observer missions are likely to face significant security and 
logistical challenges in addition to unpredictable political 
reactions locally. No single donor can or should bear the 
costs of the entire monitoring effort.  Similarly, we should 
if at all possible avoid a proliferation of ad hoc, 
fragmented monitoring activities, each sponsored by different 
entities and each offering wildly different perspectives, 
based on individual observations in only a few areas of the 
country. 
 
¶8.  (U) The importance of coordination among counterparts and 
within the donor community cannot be stressed enough.  Other 
donors are contributing significant funding (on the order of 
$12 million) for election related training, including polling 
station staff and party workers.  Election observation 
programs rank second as an area of donor interest.  For this 
reason, the joint strategy covers areas not covered by other 
donors at this time, including preparing voter roles, 
providing some equipment and promoting engagement between the 
election commission and varous political parties. 
 
¶9.  (U) Post has already expended considerable energy in 
working with the relevant donor working group in Islamabad to 
promote a coordinated approach, including in the area of 
election monitoring.  From our perspective, the best scenario 
would be for all donors to participate jointly in an accepted 
framework rather than acting unilaterally.  The next best 
approach would be to require that donor observers coordinate 
with and follow guidelines provided by the working group. 
 
¶10.   (U) We have not received a firm commitment from any 
donor on this issue so far.  While some donors remain 
undecided about their plans for international monitoring, 
perhaps reflecting continued uncertainty about when elections 
will take place and how they will be managed, others are 
leaning towards efforts that exclusively involve their 
missions (e.g. the EU).  While dialogue at post will 
continue, we strongly believe it is important to also 
initiate those discussions among like-minded donors and other 
international partners, both in their headquarters office and 
in their meetings in Washington.  In particular, talking 
points provided below should be used when approaching key 
bilateral donors, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, 
France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, 
Netherlands and Belgium as well as potential international 
donors such as the EU, UNDP and the Commonwealth. 
 
¶11.  (U)  Suggested talking points aimed at pushing for a 
coordinated, streamlined and coherent approach to election 
monitoring follow below: 
 
-- Upcoming Pakistan elections for national and provincial 
legislatures are a critical part of this nation,s democratic 
transition.  We have a shared interest in ensuring that these 
elections are free and fair and that the results are 
universally accepted by key political actors. 
 
-- The United States is committed to providing considerable 
support for ensuring free and fair elections.  With few 
exceptions, this will be executed through international 
 
ISLAMABAD 00011883  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
non-governmental organizations and contractors. 
 
-- Such support will help build confidence in the election 
process, both within opposition political parties and with 
the Pakistani population at large.  A strong commitment to a 
significant monitoring effort covering the nomination, 
campaign and voting process, coupled with a parallel vote 
tabulation, will help minimize electoral fraud from any 
direction.  It will also provide independent verification of 
the results. 
 
-- An organized, coordinated international observation effort 
is vital.  From our perspective, a truly international effort 
will ensure credibility across all sides of the Pakistan 
political perspective. 
 
-- We have previously discussed with your mission in 
Islamabad the need to ensure that any international 
monitoring effort is closely coordinated, with the activities 
of one initiative not undermining or duplicating the 
activities of another.  This is the only way to ensure 
widespread coverage and to avoid conflicts and contradictions 
in monitoring the elections, collecting data and assessing 
the results. 
 
-- Ideally, all international donors could "buy" into a 
single, coordinated monitoring program. If this isn,t 
possible, at a minimum we would request that all donors 
insist that their funding is coordinated jointly with and 
follows guidance from the donor working group on elections 
established within the Islamabad donor community.  Such 
coordination is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the 
election-monitoring process. 
 
-- The election date is fast approaching and significant 
preparatory efforts will be critical to ensure effective 
international monitoring specially if it is to be combined 
with domestic monitoring and parallel vote tabulation.  With 
this in mind, we request that you affirm your commitment to 
continuous coordination and a unified approach as the 
election process unfolds.  This will in turn allow all donors 
to move forward together in finalizing approaches, selecting 
monitoring mechanisms and beginning substantive preparations. 
 
CROCKER