Pakistan on Thursday officially expressed its displeasure at US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu’s testimony on the Pakistan general elections of February 8 during a Congressional hearing in Washington a day earlier.
Lu appeared as a key witness at a hearing titled ‘Pakistan After the elections: Examining the future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US Pakistan relationship’ and convened by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. During the hearing, Lu called for an investigation into the claims of electoral fraud, saying the US is closely monitoring the probe into the rigging allegations.
He noted “undue restrictions on freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly” during the Feb 8 polls.
On Thursday, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan values its relationship with the United States, but there were several misunderstandings about Pakistan’s election laws during the Congressional panel hearing a day earlier.
During FO’s weekly press briefing, Baloch said: “In the meeting of the American committee yesterday, there were several misunderstandings regarding Pakistani election laws.”
