Union softens its stance on Pakistan coup

Date: 11/11/1999

By Gareth Harding

EU FOREIGN ministers will next week urge Pakistan's military rulers to make a speedy return to democracy, but are likely to back away from earlier threats to impose sanctions on the regime.

Shortly after last month's coup, Union leaders called for the “immediate restoration of democracy” in Pakistan and warned that aid to the country would be halted if it did not set a clear timetable for restoring the rule of law within a month.

That deadline has passed, but most member states appear reluctant to punish General Pervez Musharraf's regime, which is widely seen as being no worse than that of toppled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. EU sources say only a handful of governments favour imposing sanctions on Islamabad and talk of cutting off all international aid is now off the agenda.

The reason for this apparent volte-face is the general's pledge to restore democracy and reduce tensions with India. Officials say there have been some “positive signals” in the past few weeks and “things are moving in the right direction”.

Finland's Junior Foreign Minister Jukka Valtasaari returned from a fact-finding trip to Pakistan last week without securing any commitment from the military regime to restore democracy by a given deadline. But Valtasaari said the EU would judge Musharaff's regime on its progress on benchmarks such as respect for human rights and electoral reforms.

EU foreign ministers will insist again at their meeting next week that Pakistan's rulers set a timetable for elections and are expected to warn that any decline in the political situation would result in a suspension of aid. They are also likely to delay signing a cooperation agreement with the country until democracy is restored.