Staff Report
KARACHI: Ahead of the Local Government polls in Sindh, Pak army has declined a request from the ECP to deploy troops outside polling stations across the Sindh province, saying they do not have sufficient force to provide security at all polling stations.
Following directives from the ECP to go ahead with the second phase of local body elections in Sindh, the federal interior ministry wrote to the army. The ministry sought to deploy some 20,000 troops outside polling stations declared as sensitive during the polls.
On Wednesday, however, the interior ministry wrote to the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan, informing him that the matter was taken up with the Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, who noted that the police and other civil armed forces form the first tier of response and static deployment outside polling stations.
The letter further noted that the ECP had deemed some 8,924 polling stations as sensitive, with 2,395 considered as ‘most sensitive’ and no polling station deemed as ‘normal.’ Securing the most-sensitive polling stations alone would require the deployment of around 20,000 troops of the army and paramilitary Rangers.
It said that the current border duties and other internal security deployments across the country did not leave the military in a position to deploy such a large number of troops.
Sindh LG polls on 15th
However, the military said it could station troops on standby to act as a quick response force to respond to an emerging situation as tier two and three responses under Article 220 of the Constitution. The Sindh local government polls are scheduled to take place on January 15.
