Five Japanese election monitors have arrived in Pakistan ahead of Monday's parliamentary elections there.
The monitors, made up of Foreign Ministry officials and university researchers, arrived in the capital Islamabad on Saturday.
The 5, along with 10 other Japanese monitors including embassy officials, will be deployed at polling stations in 5 cities such as Islamabad and Karachi. They will oversee the casting and counting of ballots to check for any irregularities.
Local NGOs say they have been informed of allegations that the government's intelligence agency and police made threatening calls to certain candidates or obstructed their campaigning.
Former ambassador to Pakistan, Takao Kawakami, who heads the Japanese team, said that his team will work to stem unfair activities as much as possible and help advance the country's democratization process.
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