US Ambassador Donald Blome met with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja on Thursday and reassured him that the United States will always support free and fair elections in Pakistan, according to the country’s laws and constitution.

According to a statement released by the US embassy, the ambassador reaffirmed that the Pakistani people should elect their future leaders and that Washington is still dedicated to working to strengthen the US-Pakistan relationship with whoever the people choose.

The US ambassador made these remarks due to the unpredictability of the timing of the upcoming elections.

Earlier, the President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, invited Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja for a meeting on August 23 or 24 to fix an appropriate date for holding the general elections.

The letter written by Dr. Alvi states that the constitution requires the president to decide a date for general elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly (NA).