Interior minister ‘has a lot on his plate’

Supposed to provide all candidates with a level playing field

ISLAMABAD : Caretaker Interior Minister Muhammad Azam Khan on Thursday issued directives to provide foolproof security at all the polling stations situated in the Islamabad Capital Territory.

He issued these directives while chairing a meeting attended by Secretary Interior, Islamabad Chief Commissioner and others.

Earlier, Islamabad Inspector General Police (IGP) and Islamabad Chief Commissioner briefed him about the security measures which would be taken for holding election in the capital territory.

The interior minister was informed that 356 polling stations have been set up for men, 345 for women and 87 polling stations with no segregation in the capital territory.



Experts on security concerns believe that there are a lot of challenges lying ahead of the caretaker interior minister.

Brigadier (retd) Farooq Hameed on Thursday told The Express Tribune that the caretaker interior minister needs to ensure foolproof security measures for conducting fair and free elections in the country.

“There are still remains of terrorists despite launch of different operations against them who would like to attack and deteriorate the law and order of the country…biggest challenge of Khan that level playing field is available to every stakeholder who aims to contest election. Enemies would attempt to create security issues in the country during election,” said Brigadier (retd) Hameed.

Hameed said that the caretaker interior minister would have to work round the clock on high alert while staying connected with the home minister of each of the province for holding transparent and secured elections.



He said that Khan also needs to closely work with agencies like NACTA and other security agencies. “He would definitely need their cooperation for smoothly running of his affairs,”Hameed added.

“Khan is required to ensure that each and every person comes out, whoever desires so and enjoys safe election campaign,” he said and added that the caretaker interior minister is required to stay neutral and accept the tough challenge for being appointed as the interior minister.

Meanwhile, another defence expert Brigadier (retd) Said Nazir Mohmand said that a minister in the cabinet for caretaker setup has limited mandate. “Controlling law and order situation would be the major challenge for Khan,” he added.



Mohmand said that there are some political parties including religious ones which have militant wings. He added that the interim setup is supposed to handle the situation skillfully for holding peaceful elections in the country by implementing the rule of law.

He said that implementation of rules of Election Commission of Pakistan would also be a major issue for him and added that there are candidates who even take ballot box away on the Election Day. Mohmand said that Khan would need to ensure along with his other cabinet fellows that elections are not rigged.