LAHORE, Jan 21: European Union (EU) observers have forwarded to the Election Commission of Pakistan ‘six points that must be addressed’ in order to make general elections free and fair, Ms Bushra Aitzaz said on Monday evening.

Speaking from her home in Zaman Park following a visit by the Ambassador of the Netherlands, Mr Willem Andreae, Ms Aitzaz said: “He told me that six points have been handed over to the ECP that must be addressed for free and fair elections.”

Mr Andreae was earlier denied access to detained PPP leader and Supreme Court Bar President Aitzaz Ahsan, whose detention order is due to expire on Feb 2.

Ms Aitzaz said that Mr Andreae had informed her that in the aftermath of the 2002 elections, the EU had compiled a dossier detailing failings on the part of the government to ensure fairness, but that the EU had received “no feedback” on their report at that time.

“This time around, the ambassador said they (the government of Pakistan) will be held to account on every point,” Ms Aitzaz said. “We in Pakistan know there is no way at the moment for free and fair elections to take place, and I explained that to him, and he said every effort will be made to make the electoral process fair,” she added.

When asked what the six points entailed, Ms Aitzaz professed she was unaware, but that this information should be sought from the ECP.

Earlier, Mr Andrae spoke to reporters and expressed concern regarding the ongoing detention of Mr Ahsan whom he termed `a personal friend’.

He added that 150 election observers from the EU had been monitoring the political situation in Pakistan since December and their findings would be discussed with their respective governments soon.

Ms Aud Marit Wiig, the Ambassador of Norway, who visited in the afternoon, was also denied access to Mr Aitzaz.

Ms Aitzaz said that all ambassadors who came to visit had termed Mr Ahsan a `prisoner of conscience’. Likening her husband’s detention to Nelson Mandela’s during the Apartheid era and the plight of Burmese democrat Aung San Suu Kyi, Ms Aitzaz added: “I think the Europeans are well aware of the issues and understand that whatever problems Pakistan is facing stem from dictatorship and fraud.”

She said that Mr Ahsan’s third session of preventative detention was due to expire on the 2nd of next month and that the government would then have no legal basis to keep him detained, unless fresh references were filed against him.

She described her husband as being in good morale and health, but added that the detention was taking a mental toll on Mr Ahsan, who was accustomed to being physically and mentally active all day.