Election security plan is inadequate, CEC tells Kayani

Source: 
The Express Tribune
Publication date: 
May 09 2013

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim on Thursday asked Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to deploy army personnel at all the sensitive stations across Pakistan, Express News reported on Thursday.

The CEC wrote a letter to the army chief, stating that the current security plan is inadequate.

Stressing that ensuring free and fair elections will be a joint effort, Ebrahim said the presence of the army at polling booths will eradicate the chances of rigging and violence.

The CEC had declared 12,716 polling stations as sensitive.

Since April, the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban have killed more than 100 people in attacks on candidates and rallies, particularly those of secular-leaning parties, in a bid to undermine elections they regard as un-Islamic.

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it would send tens of thousands of troops to polling stations and counting centres to prevent the Taliban from disrupting the election.

The polls, already Pakistan’s most violent, marks the first time that a civilian government will complete a full term and hand over to another administration.

Army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said 300,000 security officials, including 32,000 troops, had been deployed in Punjab, the most populous province.

“Definitely they have reports and obviously they have made a plan to counter that,” newspapers quoted him as saying, referring to security agencies getting threats of violence from the Taliban.

Another 96,000 security forces would be deployed in the northwest of Pakistan, where the Taliban operate from strongholds.