WASHINGTON: The State Department said on Monday that the United States was not trying to influence the outcome of the expected elections in Pakistan as it did not support any party or candidate.

The department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller offered this assurance while responding to a question from a journalist, who asked why an ambassador should meet the chief election official of a country.

US Ambassador Donald Blome met Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja in Islamabad recently.

“I would refer you to the embassy for specific comments on that meeting, which, I am sure, they will be happy to provide. But I think I see where you are going with the question,” Mr Miller told the journalist.

“So, I would reiterate what I have said a number of times, which is that the United States does not take any position with respect to the outcome of an election in Pakistan.”

The United States, he said, did not support any political party or candidate in Pakistan but “of course, we urge free and fair elections in Pakistan as we do throughout the world.”

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2023