Islamabad: The Commonwealth has warned that a review of Pakistan's three-year suspension from the grouping will largely be based on the conduct of next week's general elections.

The election process is not limited to the polling day alone but would also include campaigning and the electioneering process, the head of the Commonwealth observers group Tan Sri Dato Musa bin Hitam said.

He, however, declined to comment on the poll process so far.

Saying that the "credibility of election" would be compared to the standards set by the Commonwealth's Harare Declaration of 1991 and the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme on the Harare Declaration, 1995, he said that the declaration pledged to work for protection and promotion of Democracy, Democratic processes and institutions.

States that violate the declaration would be excluded from participating at Commonwealth ministerial-level meetings, suspended from other Commonwealth meetings and deprived of technical support from all Commonwealth states, the former Malaysian Deputy Premier was quoted as saying by 'Daily Times'.

Musa said that the observers' report would be discussed by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which was scheduled to meet on November 1 to decide about Pakistan's readmission.

The CMAG had suspended Pakistan from the grouping following the 1999 military coup by President Pervez Musharraf.

PTI