Election security to be handled largely by Sindh police

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI:

With uncertainty looming over army deployment at polling stations in the second phase of the local government elections in Sindh, the security responsibility has been given overwhelmingly to the Sindh police.

The announcement, to the dismay of the opposition parties in the province, was made at a press briefing in Hyderabad on Monday by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad.

"The Sindh home ministry has requested for 16 companies of the Pakistan Army and 8,000 Rangers personnel," he said, adding that only 3,500 personnel of the latter are available. According to him, a meeting in Islamabad, to be chaired by the interior and defence ministers on November 11, will take up the request for army deployment.

The Sindh government will depute 51,000 policemen at around 7,000 polling stations in the 15 districts of Hyderabad, Mirpukhas and Nawabshah divisions. The ECP has declared 2,500 of these polling stations as very sensitive and as many as sensitive, said Muhammad, adding that they have identified over 200 troubled spots mainly in Sanghar and Badin districts. More than eight million people are registered to vote in the elections. Muhammad informed that 60,000 polling staff will conduct the election process while the polling material has been distributed among seven of the 15 districts so far.

Prior to the briefing, the officials of the ECP, district administration, police and other government departments held a meeting in Hyderabad. Additional home secretary Muhammad Waseem told the officials that there will be a ban on carrying weapons seven days before the November 19 elections.

Sindh IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali informed 28,000 policemen in Hyderabad division, 15,000 in Nawabshah division and 8,000 in Mirpurkhas division will be deployed.

Opposition opposes

Meanwhile, leaders of Tameer-i-Hyderabad Ittehad, which consists of 10 political parties challenging the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Hyderabad district, met the ECP officials to register their complaints. According to Jamaat-i-Islami ameer Hafiz Tahir Majeed, they requested the officials to either restore the candidacy of all the candidates whose forms have been rejected during the scrutiny and withdrawal processes, or restart the election process on the constituencies won unopposed in Hyderabad.

A delegation of opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) and Sindh United Party (SUP), announced on Monday their decision to participate in the LG election's second phase.

PML-N Sindh chapter president Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, former Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, senior politicians, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Shah Muhammad Shah and others visited the provincial election commission office for a two-hour meeting and accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for pre-poll rigging. "We demand army deployment even inside the polling stations," said Rahoo. "We also demand federal employees to participate on the election day."

The Sindh government wants to deploy the army only in those areas where it is facing tough competition, he claimed, adding that their leadership does not trust the ECP and that the army chief should take notice of the rigging.

SUP's Syed Ghulam Shah clarified that there is no anti-PPP alliance. "Our grievances are the same so we come all together," he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2015.