The Commonwealth Secretariat is guided by, and is deeply committed to, the values of the Commonwealth Charter, which are shared by all our member countries.
The Commonwealth observation methodology is guided by the 2018 Revised Commonwealth Guidelines for the Conduct of Election Observation in Member Countries, which provide that reports will be shared with the member government, Election Management Bodies (EMBs) and with other stakeholders. Thereafter, the report is made public.
The length of time taken to write Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) reports, and similarly, the finalisation and release of the publication, varies considerably with each COG. Other factors affecting the release dates include legal challenges and disputes. In this case, a comprehensive report of over 160 pages was finalised by the end of 2024.
The Secretariat first shared the report earlier this year with the Government of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan and encouraged a domestic mechanism which convenes all electoral stakeholders to address the recommendations in the COG report. Subsequently, the Secretariat sought information on the status of action taken. This process was necessary for any further steps with regard to the internal process for releasing the report.
It was then decided that the Pakistan COG report, along with two other outstanding reports of elections in 2024, would be released at the end of September. This timeline was made available to the media, when contacted, and the report was duly published on 30th September along with other reports. We strongly encourage all stakeholders to use the report constructively, in service of the people of Pakistan. As we have stated in earlier statements, we remain ready to support any mechanism aimed at strengthening democracy in Pakistan, for the benefit of all its citizens.
We will continue to partner with stakeholders to ensure that COG reports are released in a timely manner. The Commonwealth remains firmly committed to transparency, while adhering to the sequence of release as outlined in the 2018 Revised Guidelines.
