U.S. Ambassador To Pakistan Talks To CBS

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson met Tuesday in Islamabad with the country's Chief Election Commissioner, who told her parliamentary elections scheduled for Jaunuary 15 would go ahead on schedule. (Read full story)

The affirmation comes despite political turmoil and significant protesting on the heels of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency on Saturday.

CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar was the only Western journalist at the Pakistani Election Commissioner's office, and spoke briefly to Patterson after the meeting. It is the first public comment from the U.S. ambassador since Musharraf declared a state of emergency.

Below is the full transcript of Patterson's brief statement outside the election commission office, followed by her interview with MacVicar.

I'd like to reiterate the U.S. government's interest in free, fair, and rapid elections, on schedule. The Election Commissioner assured me that he had absolutely no indication that the elections would be delayed and, on the part of the election commission, that he was quite ready to proceed.

If I could also read a couple of other statements, our goal is to help Pakistan hold free, fair, and credible elections, in which the people can choose their own leaders. But, for the elections to be credible, opposition political party leaders and their party workers must be released from jail or house arrest. The media must be free to report on events and share their opinions with the public.

I urge the commissioner to announce the election schedule as soon as possible to reassure the people of Pakistan and the international community that the government remains committed to holding elections on schedule. We also expect President Musharraf to step down as Chief of Army Staff and begin his promised transition to civilian democratic rule. As President Bush has said, we urge President Musharraf to restore democracy as quickly as possible.

MacVicar: If I could just ask you, by coming here this morning, what's the very clear message that your government is sending?

Patterson: The message that my government is sending and has sent is that we expect elections to be held on schedule, on or before January 15th, with the fullest possible, participation of the political parties and political actors and the media in Pakistan.

MacVicar: And with what you've heard this morning, you've got no reason… there's no suggestion that, at any rate, the people charged for holding these elections don't think that they will go ahead on time?

Patterson: No, he thinks they will go ahead on time. He is ready to proceed. We've been working with him very closely. We have invested a good amount of resources in observer missions and voter education, in development of political parties, and we're very pleased with how that has proceeded and, we expect to see results.

MacVicar: There's some confusion this morning, apparently, on the part of the (Pakistani) government, where we understand there were statements issued last night, that the attorney general said, yes, no sign of delay, they (January elections) will go ahead... Do you think that the government has reached a decision, that Gen. Musharraf has reached a decision, that he will have elections on time, on schedule?

Patterson: Let me just restate the U.S. government's position; is that we expect him to hold elections on time and we are ready to do all we can to facilitate that process.