ECP rejects plea of PTI for deployment of Pakistan Army during upcoming elections of Cantonment Board
ISLAMABAD
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for deployment of Pakistan Army during upcoming elections of Cantonment Board.
Election Commission of Pakistan has said that security arrangements have been finalized and Army is not required in presence of Police, Rangers and FC.
A letter written by PTI chief organizer Senator Saifullah Khan Niazi to the Election Commission said that sub-organizations from across the country are updating with the details of the ongoing election campaign for the Cantonment Board elections. Past experience has shown that elections held without assigning security to the military are subject to suspicion.
He said that the absence of electronic voting machines paved the way for rigging, adding that local political players could resort to rigging in elections ranging from fake votes to tempering with results. Our well-thought-out view is that the military should be assisted in holding free and fair elections.
The chief organizer of PTI said that in order to maintain law and order, army personnel should be deployed inside and outside the polling stations. In the current situation, keeping elections free from rigging and violence is even more necessary and important.
However the ECP has rejected the plea of PTI. The ECP informed the PTI of its decision in writing. The decision to reject the PTI application was made in the meeting of ECP chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The September 12 cantonment board elections will be the first grassroots level electoral contest between the country’s arch rival political parties after the 2018 general elections. The polls have been pending since 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic and re-demarcation of wards in the cantonments.