Dear European External Action Service,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

Election Expert Mission report for Pakistan 2024

I have been in correspondence with the EEAS regarding the aforementioned document. I was informed that this document cannot be released to the public without consent from the Government of Pakistan. Any disclosure, even partial, can result in straining of relationship between Pakistan and the EU. I was also told that my correspondence with the EEAS is not in the public domain, and I take that to mean that it is somehow off the record. I was also told that I should approach AskTheEU for a public statement.

Therefore, I would like to request, an on-record comment regarding the release of the said report and the reason why it won't be released, which I may use in my research and freelance reporting as a Pakistan observer.

Pakistan elections in 2024 are mired in serious allegations of electoral fraud and such reports are important to facilitate civil society to improve Pakistan's democratisation. The EU is a bastion of best practice in democratic governance and we are waiting to learn about their findings on Pakistan elections 2024.

Yours faithfully,
Dr Ahmed

Dear EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS,

Thank you for your response. Yes indeed I am interested in using the initial response.

However, I would also like to know how to access relevant information on the report without undermining the EU relations with the concerned country.

Yours sincerely,

Siddiqui

Dear EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS,

Thank you for your response. Yes indeed I am interested in using the initial response.

However, I would also like to know how to access relevant information on the report without undermining the EU relations with the concerned country.

Yours sincerely,

Siddiqui

Yours sincerely,

Siddiqui

Dear European External Action Service,

Please pass this on to the person who reviews confirmatory applications.

I am filing the following confirmatory application with regards to my access to documents request 'Election Expert Mission report for Pakistan 2024'.

I would like a review of my request for Election Expert Mission report for Pakistan 2024. The document coordinator response to my original request is that the report cannot be released without consent from the non-EU state involved as it may compromise the relationship with the EU and the concerned state. Moreover, even a partial release of the document will have the same impact.

I understand that a complete disclosure of this report is not possible at this time. Therefore, I´m requesting a partial release of the report for instance, an Executive Summary, Abstract, Conclusions, that allows Pakistan´s civil society an overview of the EU expert assessment of Pakistan´s Elections 2024. There are exaggerated claims around the election outcomes reported in the press. For instance,
The Economist reports: https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/02/1....
Dawn reports: https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailImage.php?....

So, I believe a partial disclosure of independent and expert analysis will put many such exaggerated claims to rest. Moreover, a partial disclosure may not be contradictory to the terms of non-disclosure and in-line with the broader mission of EU to promote responsible governance and democracy. In this way the release of information will also address the dissatisfaction among the electorate in Pakistan after the electoral exercise and will thus contribute towards neutralizing a polarizing media discourse in the country.

I understand that I didn´t apply for the confirmatory application earlier. This was because I was unclear about what this option meant on AskTheEU. Now that I have learned about it, I am doing due diligence before making any information public.

As always thank you for your consideration and prompt response.

A full history of my request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.asktheeu.org/en/request/elec...

Yours faithfully,

Siddiqui

Dear EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS,

I had requested an internal review for my request for partial release of the above mentioned report 15 days ago which is your time limit to respond. This is a reminder about the status of my request.

Yours sincerely,

Siddiqui