Election day is not the end of a process, but rather the beginning. The elections have led to the first signs of a relatively peaceful transition of power from government to opposition. We recognise this as a clear indication of the democratisation of Pakistan.

We commend the Pakistani people, who put aside their fears and participated in this process, and we welcome the fact that turnout was higher than some had expected. There can be little doubt that the results of Monday’s elections reflect Pakistan’s voters’ desire for change.

Nevertheless, we voice our concerns about pre-poll irregularities, and procedural flaws observed on election day, as laid out by my colleague Michael Gahler earlier.

The EU has put a serious foreign policy framework in place. The European Parliament in particular takes human rights and democracy seriously. It is for this reason that we, the EU, have a budget line specifically for election observation missions. I thank the presence of the EU election observation mission and I congratulate Michael, Hannah and their team, who have made a very significant contribution to an election that we believe has been a most encouraging stepping stone on the road to full democracy in Pakistan.

The European Parliament will continue to accompany this transition in the weeks and months to come. In the course of the year, another delegation of MEPs will visit Pakistan.

We also look forward to further contacts in Europe between our body and the soon-to-be constituted National Assembly.

We hope that a stable and workable government will emerge in the near future. We have met President Musharraf several times, and we will closely follow whether he will honour his commitment and accept to cooperate with the new government in a constructive manner.

The various political parties in Pakistan will face difficult times ahead, and will need to make possibly painful compromises. We call on them to face these challenges and to address them in the corridors of power, rather than in the streets of Pakistan.