KARACHI, Aug 6: The government has decided to call army for flag march and patrolling on the eve of and on polling days in Karachi, Hyderabad and some other towns in rural areas of the province.

Besides, the Frontier Constabulary and Rangers would be deployed and video cameras installed at vintage points.

This was disclosed at a briefing given to the acting Chief Election Commissioner, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, during a meeting presided over by him in the committee room of the Sindh Assembly building on Saturday.

The meeting reviewed arrangements for the local bodies elections 2005. Member of the Election Commission from Sindh Justice Mohammad Sadiq Leghari, Provincial Election Commissioner Ahmad Ali Halepota, Secretary Kunwar Dilshad, Home Secretary Brig Mohtaram and IGP Asad Jehangir were among those present at the meeting. It was also attended by the district returning officers of the constituencies where elections have been scheduled for Aug 25 in the second phase, besides the concerned officials of the Sindh government.

Justice Dogar, who was briefed by the home secretary and IGP about the LB polls arrangements, called for strict enforcement of the code of conduct for ensuring free, fair and transparent elections.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, Justice Dogar said that the provincial administration had informed him during the meeting that there were some vulnerable points in both rural and urban areas of Sindh where troops would be patrolling on the polling days. Such areas included Karachi and Hyderabad also, he said.

In reply to a question, he said that calling out the army or not was a decision supposed to be taken by the provincial government whereas the election commission was supposed to hold the election.

He said that the home secretary had identified some sensitive spots in some rural and urban areas where, in addition to the Rangers and police, army would be asked to conduct flag march to ensure law and order.

Regarding complaints of transfers and postings allegedly in violation of the prescribed election rules, Justice Dogar said he had called for a report in this regard and all such transfers would be cancelled.

He said that the Sindh government had been asked to take strict action to check political interference in the elections and remove all banners, party flags and posters in order to ensure free, fair and impartial elections.

He also directed ministers, advisers, MNAs and MPAs not to use flags, official vehicles and other government machinery while campaigning for their candidates.

In response to another question, Justice Dogar said that DROs and ROs had, so far, not received any complaints about harassment and kidnapping of candidates. However, he added, the commission had taken notice of the press reports in this respect and had sought reports from the concerned officials.

He advised all candidates to submit written complaints with the concerned DRO/RO if they had any grievances.

During the meeting, the acting CEC expressed his satisfaction over the arrangements made for the elections. He inquired about the preparedness for the polls, as well as training of the polling staff and other related matters.

The DROs apprised the CEC of the problems being faced by them in the conduct of the polls. Justice Dogar assured them that the problems would be looked into and resolved.

He asked the DROs to direct their respective ROs to be more vigilant during the entire process and see that copies of results were provided to the concerned candidates or their agents immediately after completion of vote counting.

During the briefing, the provincial home secretary said that some 95,000 personnel of police, Rangers and FC would be mobilized in Karachi alone on the occasion of the polls. As many as 150 video cameras were being installed in sensitive areas of the city, he added.

He said that the army had been asked to conduct extensive patrolling on the polling days.

The EC secretary told journalists that the electoral lists had been prepared under the Local Government Ordinance 2000 and the same had been used for the local bodies elections held in 2001. The lists had been updated during the period August 2004 and June 2005.

He said that the suggestions put forward by the provincial governments with regard to the law and order would be taken into consideration by the CEC.