Marysville man in midst of Pakistan turmoil

Published 10:59 pm Thursday, December 27, 2007

MARYSVILLE — A Marysville man is waiting to find out if he will remain in Pakistan or soon be sent home after Thursday’s assassination of political opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and the eruption of demonstrations and violence.

Kelly Wright, a state Democratic Party leader, is in Pakistan to observe the Jan. 8 parliamentary elections. The elections are now in doubt because of Bhutto’s death and the subsequent turmoil.

Wright, 44, is on a short-term contract with the nonprofit group International Republican Institute. He’s somewhere in Pakistan, but not allowed to say where.

“I can’t comment,” Wright said. “An official statement will be issued from IRI headquarters in Washington, D.C.”

Institute spokeswoman Christina Pappas was expected to issue a statement Thursday, but later said it’s hard to get reliable information about conditions in the country. A statement is expected today, she said.

In an exchange of e-mails, Wright said he could not discuss whether he considers himself in any personal danger. His wife and 11-year-old daughter remain in Snohomish County.

IRI officials told Congress earlier this month that observers were in Pakistan simply to monitor the election process while remaining independent and impartial.

The plan had been to issue a report assessing the Pakistani election process and making recommendations for future elections. The intention is to help improve the nation’s democratic processes, according to congressional testimony.

Wright used to work for the state Democratic Party. He’s still a member of the state Democratic Central Committee representing the 38th Legislative District, including Everett and Marysville.

He did his first international political work for another nonprofit group, National Democratic Institute, in Macedonia in 2004. He also was in Pakistan for six months in 2005, when he managed a political party development program.

He returned to Pakistan earlier this month under the IRI banner to be a part of an international election observation mission for the January elections. He is one of 60 observers from 12 countries assembled to watch the elections.

Wright is a senior observer on the project. Both IRI and the National Democratic Institute are international nonprofit organizations partly funded by the U.S. government and private foundation money.

Early this year, Wright led an unsuccessful effort to change state Democratic Party rules that would have allowed some of the state’s delegates to the national convention be decided by primary vote instead of caucuses.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.