For transparent elections: PTI demands Rangers deployment at polling stations

The party lawmakers claim the police are incapable of handling the upcoming polls

KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) submitted a resolution in Sindh Assembly secretariat demanding that local government elections be held under the supervision of Rangers in the province by deploying the paramilitary force inside polling stations.

The resolution was moved by party MPAs Khurram Sher Zaman, Dr Seema Zia, Syed Hafeezuddin and Samar Ali Khan. It reads: "This House recommends that the local bodies' election in Sindh be held under the supervision of Sindh Rangers to make sure they are held in a free, fair and transparent manner."

The resolution further said that the polling staff including all returning and presiding officers must be employees of the federal government and not be residents of or in Sindh.

After the resolutions, the PTI lawmakers said that the police are not capable of handling the upcoming elections, which is why Rangers should step in and the government must write to the Army to be put on standby.

However, Sindh minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Sikandar Mandhro said that the government will make fool-proof arrangements to hold local government election is a transparent manner and Rangers' help can be sought in sensitive areas. "We can request Rangers to be deployed along with the police at all polling stations given the volatile situation in Karachi," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2015.