The Wall Street Journal-20080123-Davos 2008- Rice Pushes Musharraf on Elections
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Davos 2008: Rice Pushes Musharraf on Elections
Reuters News Service
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to stick to his pledge to hold free elections but said she understands democracy isn't "born in a minute."
Ms. Rice is due to see Mr. Musharraf today on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, marking their first meeting since the assassination Dec. 27 of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"We are all working very hard with the Pakistanis to try and ensure that the elections will be an opportunity for Pakistan to get back on a democratic path and an opportunity for Pakistanis to come together," Ms. Rice told reporters.
"These elections need to be elections that will have the confidence of Pakistanis. That is the important point," she said of the Feb. 18 poll, meant to complete a transition to civilian rule in Pakistan.
Mr. Musharraf kicked off a trip to Europe on Monday by urging the West not to set unrealistic standards on human rights and democracy, saying the Western preoccupation with the issues is "obsessive."
Asked about Mr. Musharraf's comments on democracy, particularly ahead of the poll, Ms. Rice said there would be setbacks but leaders had an obligation to push as hard as possible.
"No one has ever said that democracy is something that is born in a minute," she said. "It does take time, but you have to get started and you have to start putting in place the institutions that will secure democratic values and that will allow people to exercise their rights to freedom."
Pressed on his comments that the West was obsessed with human rights and democracy, Ms. Rice said: "Should one be obsessed with the rights of human beings to live in freedom? Maybe so."
Washington has given nuclear-armed Pakistan about $10 billion in aid since 2001, when Islamabad dropped support for the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and joined the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
