KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that the army will assist it in holding the local government elections in the metropolis where more than 90 per cent of the polling stations have been declared sensitive or highly sensitive.

“Of the 4,141 polling stations across Karachi, 3,907 are sensitive or highly sensitive,” said ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad while speaking at a press conference at the ECP Sindh office.

Some 1,791 polling stations are highly sensitive while 2,116 of them are declared sensitive primarily for security reasons in the sprawling metropolis where law and order is among the chief challenges for the authorities.

“Just 234 polling stations are normal in our scheme,” said Mr Mohammad who spoke to the media after presiding over a meeting at the Karachi Cantonment Board’s office. The chief secretary, inspector general of police, city commissioner, district and regional returning officers and representatives of Rangers and other related organisations attended the meeting.

He, however, said a decision on deploying Rangers personnel in and outside the sensitive polling stations as suggested by certain officials would be taken later.

He said Sindh government officials had identified some neighbourhoods as highly sensitive including Lines Area, Landhi, Shah Faisal Colony, Lyari, Ghans Mandi, Khokhrapar, North Nazimabad and Ibrahim Hyderi.

Therefore, he added, the provincial government had chalked out a security plan, according to which seven policemen would be posted at a highly sensitive polling station, six at a sensitive polling station and five at a polling station designated as normal.

As per the Sindh government request for the deployment of 20 companies of the army, six of them would be posted in South district and seven each in West and East districts, he said.

A total of 7,400 Rangers personnel would be deployed in the city; thus the troops and Rangers would be there on patrol and present at all the sensitive locations to respond to any situation, he said.

In some areas, he added, the ECP had plans to depute Rangers in and outside polling stations with magisterial powers, but the same plan for other polling stations would be decided later.

Some 28 Rangers mobile vans and 180 motorcycles would be there for patrol, while around 25,000 policemen would be deployed for overall security in and around polling stations, he said.

Some organisations such as Pakistan Steel and Port Qasim Authority were not cooperating with the ECP, he said, adding that there were difficulties in finding female returning officers in Malir.

Billboards

In reply to a question referring to installation of giant billboards and hoardings in the city and a large rally taken out by Imran Khan and Sirajul Haq, leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Jamaat-i-Islami, the ECP secretary said action would be taken against all those violating the code of conduct. He said those who violated the code in the past were already being tried in courts.

Mr Mohammad said the home ministry had proposed suspension of firearm licences a day before polling day and all the candidates be made to guarantee that they would not violate the election code of conduct.

Besides, as it was tried in the previous two phases of LG elections, the provincial government officials had also proposed a ban on the private security guards in plainclothes and in police-like vehicles they used to safeguard their wealthy clients.

Chehlum

Meanwhile, sources said the provincial authorities could not succeed in getting the LG elections, scheduled to be held on Dec 5, postponed for at least two days due to security arrangements being made for the Chehlum procession to be taken out on Dec 3.

They said the law enforcement agencies would not have rested enough to provide security on polling day after remaining alert for a couple of days to ensure the security of the Chehlum procession.

The sources said the ECP officials asked the government officials to file a request in writing for the postponement of elections instead of a verbal one. However, the provincial authorities did not submit a written request.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2015