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Pakistan and Kenya

I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement and associate these Benches with both his tribute to Benazir Bhutto and his sadness at the violent deaths of so many others in the recent crises in Pakistan and Kenya. Benazir Bhutto was a politician of great courage. She put her life on the line for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan and her death presents the world with the nightmare of an unstable, divided Pakistan. The Foreign Secretary has described well why we should all be alarmed at recent events in those two countries and the urgent need to restore law and order through democratic means. I pay tribute to his efforts and those of the Prime Minister and many British diplomats in these difficult and often frustrating days. May I say how strongly we agree with much of what the Foreign Secretary has said today—for example, about the decision to send Scotland Yard detectives to assist the investigation into Miss Bhutto's murder and the humanitarian aid through the Red Cross for parts of Kenya cut off by the violence? None the less, there remain some serious questions about the judgments made by Britain, the United States and the wider international community, not just in response to these events but well before. On Pakistan, why have the British Government failed to be more critical of the Musharraf regime and its deeply damaging actions, most recently in its attacks on the independence of the judiciary, which the Foreign Secretary failed to mention in his statement? Is it not the case that Britain has been totally complicit with the US policy of bolstering President Musharraf over the years? Does not this crisis show how mistaken that policy has been, with extremism having spread and democratic institutions having been so undermined? I am sure that the Foreign Secretary will at least agree that democracy is now the way forward, and we welcome the announcement of a new and early timetable for elections. It is clearly essential that Pakistan enjoys elections that are free and as fair as possible in a political climate that is as stable as possible. So can he tell the House what extra support Britain is prepared to offer to the election monitoring mission from the EU? While it is good that the EU is sending 50 so-called long-term observers for the new elections, does he believe that the increase of just seven on the monitoring mission for the 2002 elections is really sufficient, given the heightened tension and especially given that the Commonwealth election monitoring operation was suspended in November and has yet to be invited back to Pakistan? Is there not a danger that the February elections will have less international scrutiny than the flawed 2002 elections? Given the crucial role of the judiciary in supervising elections matters, what representations are being made to President Musharraf to insist that he reverses his recent dismissal of critical judges and ends the intimidation of the entire legal profession? On Kenya, may I thank the Government in their various public statements for not referring to Mr. Kibaki as the new President? Will the Foreign Secretary confirm that the Government still do not recognise Mr. Kibaki as having been re-elected President? Did the Foreign Secretary share my concern when the US State Department, in the first crucial hours after the poll, rushed to accept the flawed election result? Has he raised the serious consequences of that critical error of judgment with the US Secretary of State? Is it not the case that a rigged election result was both predictable and preventable, when we saw—more than a year ago—the rigging of the Electoral Commission of Kenya by President Kibaki? When in January last year Lord Steel of Aikwood raised the issue in the other place, the Foreign Office said that it would take up the matter with the Kenyan Government. What representations were made and were they made at ministerial level? Does the Foreign Secretary accept that the stacking of supposedly independent electoral commissions seriously undermines the task of any international election monitoring mission even before they arrive? Is he aware that with elections due in Angola, Malawi and Ghana in the next 18 months concerns are already being expressed that certain governments will ““do a Kibaki””? Will he undertake to raise with the relevant officials of the EU and the Commonwealth Secretariat the need to reform election monitoring processes so that they begin with preparatory visits to report on the independence of the election authorities themselves? I am sure that the Government and the wider international community are right to prosecute the case for political parties to work together, not least to end the violence and prevent further chaos, but does the Foreign Secretary accept that a coalition Government can be only an interim solution, not least because President Kibaki has previously reneged on power-sharing deals with Raila Odinga, as the right hon. Gentleman implied? Does not the only sustainable solution lie in fresh elections? Why have the British Government not already called for fresh elections? Does the Foreign Secretary not realise that there is a massive danger of more violence—