ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the insinuations as baseless that the army would be in control of the electoral exercise, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad on Saturday claimed that the ECP had full powers and was not under pressure from any quarter.

The ECP had determined rules of the game, he said while justifying its decision to deploy the army in and outside the polling stations. The army would work strictly in accordance with a code of conduct prepared for them, he said, adding that the army too had declared that they would work on ECP’s directions.

He said the presiding officers concerned would be in charge of polling stations while the armed forces and police personnel would assist them.

He said it would be for the presiding officer to start and end polling, declare results and transmit results to the ECP. He said district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) had been drawn from the judiciary and the polling staff had been taken from amongst federal and provincial government employees.

Dispels impression that army will be in control of electoral exercise; asks three MML candidates on UN watch list to explain position

He said a total of 800,000 security personnel including those from the army and police would be deployed at polling stations across the country.

He expressed the confidence that the elections would be held in a free, fair and transparent manner in accordance with the constitutional mandate of the ECP. On the day of polling, he said, the Result Transmission System (RTS) would be functional. The results received through the RTS would be shared with the nation through Pakistan Television, he added.

He said all institutions were cooperating with the ECP.

Mr Yaqoob said the ongoing installation of security cameras at highly sensitive polling stations would be completed before July 25.

While describing the 8300 short message service for voters’ information as a great success, the ECP secretary told reporters that over seven million people had used this service in past three days.

The ECP was completely impartial, he added.

Level playing field

He also dispelled the impression that the ECP was playing the role of a silent spectator amid attempts aimed at denying level playing field to candidates.

He said the ECP wrote two letters to the caretaker Punjab chief minister over the recent crackdown against PML-N workers.

He said the ECP had also intervened when Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s caravan had been stopped in Punjab. Besides, the ECP took immediate notice of the firing on former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s son, he said, recalling that the matter had been taken up with the authorities concerned. He also said the chief election commissioner had written a letter to the National Accountability Bureau chairman.

ECP summons three contestants

He announced that on the recommendation of the interior ministry, the ECP had summoned three Milli Muslim League (MML) candidates, whose names were on the UN watch list, and asked them to clear their position before the commission.

He said Mohammad Ashraf, a candidate from NA-149 (Sahiwal); Zafar Iqbal, a candidate from PP-113 (Faisalabad); and Mohammad Ehsan Ranjha, a candidate from PP-67 (Mandi Bahauddin) had been summoned to appear before the ECP on July 23 and explain their positions.

The title of the notices issued to the three candidate is “Pakistan’s commitments under FATF and participation of MML in the general elections 2018 from the platform of Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek”.

MML is the political face of banned outfit Jamaatud Dawa. The ECP had earlier rejected its plea for registration due to its connections with JuD.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2018