Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he has had discussions with the Commonwealth secretariat on the potential merits of observing the upcoming general election in Pakistan.

The Commonwealth Secretariat's observation missions are important for supporting resilient democratic institutions across the Commonwealth, in line with the values of the Commonwealth Charter. We work with Commonwealth partners and our network of overseas posts to ensure missions have the support they need to carry out their work successfully.

The Secretariat has supported Pakistan in recent years to improve its election management, including increasing women's participation. We would support a decision of the Secretariat to deploy a Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) ahead of the election in Pakistan.