ISLAMABAD (6th Nov, 2019): Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday while rejecting Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s plea decided to depute Pakistan Army during by-elections in Dadu.
The ECP said that the army was deployed during 2018 general elections to fulfill constitutional responsibility.
The Commission is bound to hold free, fair and transparent elections under Article 218 of the constitution and the federal and provincial chapter officials are obliged to work as per the orders of the ECP.
The ECP further stated that the PPP had called on the Commission to withdraw its notification in which it had called for the deployment of armed forces personnel both inside and outside polling stations.
The commission decided deployment of armed forces personnel both inside and outside polling stations to reduce the influence of provincial governments.
Earlier, in a letter written to the Chief Election Commissioner, the PPP stated that after the massive rigging in elections 2018 where polling agents were allegedly thrown out of polling stations, all opposition parties had decided that armed forces personnel would not be posted either inside or outside the polling stations.
The letter stated that the civilian law enforcing agencies deployed under the presiding officers were capable to deal with any untoward situation.
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