February 18, 2008	Monday	Safar 10, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 17: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool has said that the government will provide complete protection to voters and enable them to cast their votes without any pressure during the general elections.

He was talking to election observers from Belgium, Serbia, Holland and Canada visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Washington-based think tank, Democracy International, at the Governor’s House here on Sunday.

The governor expressed his satisfaction over the fact that political parties taking part in elections were not only talking about supremacy of Islam, protection of integrity and solidarity of Pakistan and improving the lot of the common man but were also promising to play their part in the war against terrorism.

He said the normal security situation in Pakistan was not different from other countries but it was facing the challenge of suicide attacks in view of the Afghanistan war.

He said election mechanism in Pakistan was as good as any modern country. The elections, however, were contested with force instead of debate and “expression of extraordinary pleasure in the event of victory and levelling of allegations on defeat had become a part of our culture as a result.”

He said politics in Pakistan hovered around personalities and 88 million voters preferred national interests to vested interests while casting votes.

The government was also determined to protect the sanctity of ballot and had deployed 250,000 policemen and 75 army battalions for maintenance of law and order on election day.

The governor hailed the arrival of election observers and assured them that the government would provide them complete security. All observers would be free to visit any polling station.

Answering a question, he said 23,544 government employees had applied for issuance of postal ballots. The election commission issued ballots to the employees on duty outside their electoral constituencies. Only 19,726 postal ballots had been received by the returning officers. The number of postal ballots thus did not exceed 200 to 400 in any constituency. —Reporter