ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh had once again asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone local bodies polls citing the state of law and order and terrorist threats. However, the ECP has rejected the request, according to a spokesperson for the provincial electoral body.
During an urgent meeting to assess and discuss the province government’s proposal, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja made the decision that the schedule would not change.
Aijaz Anwer Chohan, a provincial election commissioner, and electoral commission secretary Umar Hameed were also present during the meeting.
The provincial authorities “reiterated the request that the 2nd Phase of local government elections to the extent of Karachi Division and Hyderabad District be postponed until such time as the required security is available at the polling stations,” in a letter to the ECP sent on Saturday, less than 24 hours before the voting. They cited information from the intelligence agencies regarding terrorist threats.
The Sindh administration has asked to postpone the elections twice in as many days in an effort to appease the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), which has threatened to leave the coalition government if its concerns about delimitation are not resolved before the elections.
According to the letter, the ECP failed to address the province government’s concerns on the non-availability of the Pakistan Army and civil armed forces for the orderly conduct of elections in its order from January 13.
It was also mentioned that senior officers from law enforcement and intelligence organisations attended a meeting that was held at the chief secretary’s office on Friday.
“At this conference, representatives from law enforcement and intelligence services informed the attendees of the fragile law and order situation as well as specific threats against different political figures and party employees.”
The meeting, it was noted, “further confirmed the government’s worry and apprehension that there was a higher need for the presence of troops from the Pakistan Army and civil armed forces to be statically placed at the voting sites due to the current situation.”
FC deployment approved
To guarantee the smooth running of the aforementioned elections, the Interior Ministry authorised the static deployment of Frontier Constabulary outside at all extremely sensitive and sensitive voting sites in response to the ECP’s request.
The letter stated that “the Election Commission of Pakistan, Home Department Government of Sindh in conjunction with Frontier Constabulary authority, on the basis of on-ground requirement/assessment, will work out the actual number of troops, date and region of deployment.”
20 FC platoons provided to Sindh police
In line with the Interior Ministry’s approval, as many as 20 Frontier Constabulary (FC) platoons have been provided to the Sindh police to assist in ensuring security during the LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad, FC Commandant Salahuddin Mehsud said in conversation with Geo News.
“Over 800 personnel have been given to Sindh as per the federal government’s directives,” Mehsud said.