Ensuring security: ECP calls up army troops for Karachi by-polls

JI, ANP not to contest elections in Sindh.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to deploy army troops at all polling stations in Karachi to ensure peaceful and transparent conduct of the August 22 by-elections.

Army troops will be deployed in and outside the polling stations in three constituencies of Karachi – NA-254, PS-95 and PS-103, ECP officials told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

The decision was taken at meeting of the electoral body chaired by the acting chief election commissioner, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani.

The commission, however, will announce a detailed plan today (Monday) regarding the deployment of troops at other polling stations particularly in the areas affected by the ongoing floods, added the officials.

“We reviewed all internal arrangements for the by-polls,” a member of the committee said. Complete security will be ensured to the polling staff and the contestants,” he added.

Earlier, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan called for army deployment during the by-polls to “ensure free and fair elections”. The Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl also demanded deployment of troops at sensitive polling stations.



The by-elections for 16 National Assembly seats and 26 provincial assembly seats across the country will be held August 21. Most of these seats were vacated by the members who had won from more than one constituency in the May 11 general elections

Of the 7,622 polling stations to be set up for the by-elections, 3,644 have been declared ‘sensitive’, with 1,657 falling in the category of ‘highly sensitive’, revealed the figures.

A total of 180 candidates are vying for 15 Punjab Assembly seats, 82 for four Sindh Assembly seats, 32 for three Balochistan Assembly seats and 27 for four Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats.

ANP, JI boycott by-elections in Karachi

In a related development the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Awami National Party (ANP) have decided not to contest the by-elections for two Sindh Assembly and one National Assembly seats from Karachi.

The JI will boycott the elections across Sindh, while the ANP will support PPP candidates across the province.

“Barring Karachi and Hyderabad, we’ll contest the by-elections across the country,” said JI Sindh chapter chief Dr Merajul Huda Siddiqui.

He added that the JI has challenged the May 11 general elections in Karachi and Hyderabad in the court seeking re-elections under the army’s supervision in the two cities. “There is no question of a by-election when the electoral process was not even followed in the May 11 elections,” he said.

The ANP, on the other hand, decided to support PPP candidates in Sindh. Citing possible life threats to his party’s candidates ANP’s Sindh chapter chief Senator Shahi Syed said, “Candidates were not allowed to campaign while some parties freely staged rallies in the run-up to the May 11 elections.” He added that it was not wise to field candidates as they might be targeted by militants.

Ballot papers

The ECP has dispatched ballot papers to the 42 constituencies across the country, election commission officials said. More than 10 million ballot papers have been released for the by-elections.

(with additional reporting by our correspondent in Karachi)

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.