ISLAMABAD: “On election day, voting was assessed as well-conducted and transparent,” said Michael Gahler, chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission (EUEOM), at a press conference in Islamabad on Friday.
However, Gahler raised the alarm about pre-election practices highlighting restrictions on the media, an uneven playing field for candidates, and a systematic effort to undermine the former ruling party.
“Although there were several legal provisions aimed at ensuring a level playing field, we have concluded that there was a lack of equality of opportunity,” he said.
Gahler said that numerous interlocutors acknowledged a systematic effort to “undermine the former ruling party through cases of corruption, contempt of court and terrorist charges against its leaders and candidates.”
“Media outlets and journalists suffered from restrictions, which resulted in extraordinary self-censorship,” he said. “This resulted in election coverage without impartial scrutiny.”
Both local and international election observers have expressed satisfaction with polling day arrangements.
Gahler said that while results were still pouring in from several constituencies, this would not damage the electoral process. He added that the international observers were not interested in the results but rather the electoral process.
The EUEOM deployed 120 observers on polling day across Pakistan — except Balochistan province due to security reasons. They visited 113 different constituencies, 582 polling stations and tabulation centers to observe the electoral process.
In the elections held on July 25, the party of former cricket star Imran Khan won a majority of seats to form a federal government. His opponents have, however, alleged massive rigging in the polls and rejected the results.
The preliminary statement released by the EUEOM said that a total of 11,855 candidates contested the elections, of which 55 percent stood as independents. “Some 4.8 percent of candidates were women,” it said.
The report pointed out that the legal requirement to nominate at least 5 percent of female candidates was not met by 7.4 percent of parties contesting the elections.
The July 25 polls mark the second consecutive democratic transition of power, addressing uncertainties over the future of democracy in Pakistan. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, voter turnout in the election was 55.8 percent. A total of 105.96 million registered voters used their right to franchise on the polling day.
Earlier in the day, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) — a non-government organization based in Islamabad — also presented its election observation report and acknowledged “significant improvement” in the quality of electoral process.
The FAFEN has urged the ECP to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of rigging leveled by some major political parties including the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. “Otherwise, the country may spiral into a phase of political and public protest and outcry that inhibits political stability,” it said.
The deployment of as many as 371,000 armed forces personnel on election duties, despite questions from some political parties, “ensured the peaceful conduct of election day amid heightened threats of subversive acts,” the report said.
It, however, pointed out that “some aspects of the pre-election environment and the vote-counting process present cause for concern that should be addressed.”
The FAFEN deployed a total of 19,683 trained, non-partisan observers to monitor the voting and counting process at 72,089 polling stations in 270 National Assembly constituencies, it said.
“The voting process on election day generally remained smooth,” the report concluded.
EU, international observers express satisfaction over Pakistan poll day preparations
EU, international observers express satisfaction over Pakistan poll day preparations
- Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) urged Pakistan’s Election Commission to conduct inquiry into allegations of rigging leveled by different political parties
- Gahler raised the alarm about pre-election practices highlighting restrictions on the media, an uneven playing field for candidates, and a systematic effort to undermine the former ruling party
World welcomes 2026 with fireworks after year of turmoil
- Australia holds defiant celebrations after its worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years
- Hong Kong holds a subdued event after a deadly fire in tower blocks
PARIS, France: People around the globe toasted the end of 2025 on Wednesday, bidding farewell to one of the hottest years on record, packed with Trump tariffs, a Gaza truce and vain hopes for peace in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his traditional New Year address to tell his compatriots their military “heroes” would deliver victory in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, while his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky said his country was “10 percent” away from a deal to end the fighting.
Earlier, New Year celebrations took on a somber tone in Sydney as revellers held a minute of silence for victims of the Bondi Beach shooting before nine tons of fireworks lit up the harbor city at the stroke of midnight.
Seeing in the New Year in Moscow, Natalia Spirina, a pensioner from the central city of Ulyanovsk, said that in 2026 she hoped for “our military operation to end as soon as possible, for the guys to come home and for peace and stability to finally be established in Russia.”
Over the border in Vyshgorod, Ukrainian beauty salon manager Daria Lushchyk said the war had made her work “hell” — but that her clients were still coming regardless.
“Nothing can stop our Ukrainian girls from coming in and getting themselves glam,” Lushchyk said.
Back in Sydney, heavily armed police patrolled among hundreds of thousands of people lining the shore barely two weeks after a father and son allegedly opened fire on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.
Parties paused for a minute of silence an hour before midnight, with the famed Sydney Harbor Bridge bathed in white light to symbolize peace.
Pacific nations including Kiribati and New Zealand were the first to see in 2026, with Seoul and Tokyo following Sydney in celebrations that will stretch to glitzy New York via Scotland’s Hogmanay festival.
More than two million people are expected to pack Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach for what authorities have called the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve party.
In Hong Kong, a major New Year fireworks display planned for Victoria Harbor was canceled in homage to 161 people killed in a fire in November that engulfed several apartment blocks.
Truce and tariffs
This year has brought a mix of stress and excitement for many, war for others still — and offbeat trends, with Labubu dolls becoming a worldwide craze.
Thieves plundered the Louvre in a daring heist, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return.
The world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, the Vatican chose a new, American, pope and the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk laid bare America’s deep political divisions.
Donald Trump returned as US president in January, launching a tariff blitz that sent global markets into meltdown.
Trump used his Truth Social platform to lash out at his sliding approval ratings ahead of midterm elections to be held in November.
“Isn’t it nice to have a STRONG BORDER, No Inflation, a powerful Military, and great Economy??? Happy New Year!” he wrote.
After two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, US pressure helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October — though both sides have accused each other of flagrant violations.
“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” said Gaza City resident Shireen Al-Kayali. “We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”
In contrast, there was optimism despite abiding internal challenges in Syria, where residents of the capital Damascus celebrated a full year since the fall of Bashar Assad.
“There is no fear, the people are happy, all of Syria is one and united, and God willing ... it will be a good year for the people and the wise leadership,” marketing manager Sahar Al-Said, 33, told AFP against a backdrop of ringing bells near Damascus’s Bab Touma neighborhood.
“I hope, God willing, that we will love each other. Loving each other is enough,” said Bashar Al-Qaderi, 28.
Sports, space and AI
In Dubai, thousands of revellers queued for up to nine hours for a spectacular fireworks and laser display at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
After a build-up featuring jet skis and floating pianos on an adjacent lake, a 10-minute burst of pyrotechnics and LED effects lit up the needle-shaped, 828-meter tall (2,717-feet) tower.
The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space and questions over artificial intelligence.
NASA’s Artemis II mission, backed by tech titan Elon Musk, will launch a crewed spacecraft to circle the moon during a 10-day flight, more than 50 years since the last Apollo lunar mission.
After years of unbridled enthusiasm, AI is facing scrutiny and nervous investors are questioning whether the boom might now resemble a market bubble.
Athletes will gather in Italy in February for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
And for a few weeks in June and July, 48 nations will compete in the biggest football World Cup in history in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
