ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sought the help of army for security around sensitive polling stations during by-elections in 42 national and provincial assembly constituencies.
Sources told Dawn on Tuesday that ECP’s senior officials held a meeting with army officials at the General Headquarters and sought help for maintaining law and order during the by-elections scheduled to be held on Aug 22.
They said the ECP had provided a list of sensitive polling stations to army officials who had promised that maximum number of personnel would be deployed at them for security duty.
The total number of polling stations was around 7,500 and the army in all probability would deploy personnel at ‘most sensitive’ polling stations and if possible at polling stations identified as ‘sensitive’ as well.
However, the GHQ would carry out its own assessment and respond to the ECP request soon.
An ECP official said the commission had received requests from various political parties and candidates for deployment of army personnel at polling stations.
He said the Sindh chief secretary had also sent a request for deployment of troops in and outside the polling stations in about seven national and provincial assembly constituencies.
The official said the ECP would identify the ‘most sensitive’ and ‘sensitive’ polling stations and the army would itself decide the number of troops to be deployed.
LG POLLS: Answering a question, the official said the ECP had never refused to conduct local government elections in September. The ECP would come into picture only after provinces developed their local government laws. He said the ball was now in the court of provincial governments which had been asked by the Supreme Court to submit their replies by Aug 15.
He said there was no meeting of the ECP on Monday. However, he added, the ECP secretary held an informal meeting with commission’s officers at which matters related to by-elections and local government elections were discussed. “It was purely an internal exercise meant to prepare the commission for making timely arrangements for all activities in its sphere.”
The official said only the Balochistan government had prepared a law on local government and the clause 16 of the law provided for holding elections within 90 to 120 days.
He said laws from other provincial governments would come as a surprise and the ECP would need time to study them and prepare its strategy. It was going to be an exercise bigger than the general elections and the grand operation would definitely need some time, he said, adding that the provinces might ask the Supreme Court for more time.
The official said after framing laws and rules provinces would be required to carry out delimitation exercise which according to constitution was a provincial subject.
ACTING CEC: The law ministry has yet to notify the vacancy for the office of the Chief Election Commissioner, a week after retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim resigned from the post.
Official sources told Dawn that the delay in the notification was caused by confusion over whether Justice Ebrahim’s resignation should be accepted by the president or not.
President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar had confirmed that Justice Ebrahim’s resignation had been sent to the Prime Minister Office for necessary action. Citing legal experts he had noted that a formal acceptance was not required.
An official said the file was now in the law ministry, which is without a minister after the change of Zahid Hamid’s portfolio.
He said the process for appointment of an acting chief election commissioner would begin only after a notification of CEC office’s vacancy was issued by the law ministry.