KARACHI: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Fazl-ur-Rahman on Saturday said the interim government was working hard to help political parties run their election campaigns in free and secure atmosphere, but “all this will be possible when they follow the code of conduct in letter and spirit”.

He said this while presiding over a meeting on law and order at CM House.

The meeting was attended by chief secretary retired major Azam Suleman, DG Rangers Major General Mohammad Saeed, IGP Sindh Amjad Javed Saleemi, principal secretary to the CM Sohail Rajput, secretaries for home and information, commissioner of Karachi, and provincial heads of various law enforcement agencies.

Mr Rahman claimed his caretaker government had created peaceful atmosphere in which all political parties were conducting their electioneering.

“We are trying to make it more secure by taking some important measures for which all the political parties should extend their full cooperation,” he said, adding, it included abiding by the code of conduct and informing district administrations concerned prior to their political activities.

The chief secretary told the meeting he had established close coordination with Rangers, police and other intelligence institutions to create foolproof security arrangements for the elections.

He said with approval of the chief minister over Rs1 billion had been released for making arrangements for elections and he was personally monitoring utilisation of the money.

The chief minister said there should not be any missing facility at any polling station. The DG Rangers said to maintain law and order “there was an exemplary coordination” among all agencies working in Sindh.

He said the targeted operation against “terrorists and outlaws” was in full swing and strict checking at entry and exits points of Sindh and cities had begun.

The Sindh Rangers chief said all important places were under strict vigilance.

The Sindh police chief said a coordination cell had been established at his office where day-to-day operation and working by SSPs and sub-divisional police officers was being shared regularly.

He said threat alerts were there but coordinated efforts and working of police, Rangers and other intelligence had proved to be successful.

Another police officer said around 1,200 candidates were contesting elections and each candidate on average held three corner meetings daily.

“In this way police were providing security to 3,600 corner meetings daily,” he said.

He claimed most candidates or political parties were not abiding by the code of conduct.

The intelligence agencies’ representatives told the meeting their members in plainclothes were constantly moving from one place to another in Karachi.

“We are scanning every important and sensitive area [of Karachi] and on our indication various criminals have been arrested,” said an official.

The chief secretary said with approval of the caretaker chief minister three intelligence committees had been formed and notified to ensure peaceful environment for the elections.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018