• Approval follows requests from ECP for tomorrow’s elections in 13 NA, provincial constituencies
• Security personnel authorised to act as magistrates for offences

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry on Friday approved the deployment of the Pakistan Army and civil armed forces for security in 13 national and provincial assembly constituencies, where by-elections are scheduled to take place on Sunday (tomorrow).

A notification issued by the interior ministry, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said the approval followed requests from Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The civil armed forces will be deployed as “2nd-tier responders (standby/quick reaction)”, while the troops of Pakistan Army will be deployed as “3rd-tier responders (quick reaction force)” from Friday to Nov 24 (Monday).

The civil armed forces will be deployed as “second-tier responders (standby/quick reaction),” whereas the troops of the Pakistan Army will serve as “third-tier responders (quick reaction force)” from Friday through Nov 24 (Monday).

The exact numbers will be determined by home departments and the ECP based on ground assessments.

The constituencies where the by-elections are taking place include NA-18 Haripur, NA-96 Faisal­ab­ad-II, NA-104 Faisalabad-X, NA-143 Sahiwal-III, NA-185 D.G Khan-II, NA-129 Lahore-XIII, PP-73 Sar­go­dha-III, PP-98 Faisalabad-I, PP-115 Faisalabad-XVIII, PP-116 Faisal­abad-XIX, PP-203 Sahi­wal-VI, PP-269 Muzaffar­garh-II, and PP-87 Mianwali-III.

ECP notification

A separate notification issued by the ECP stated that, under Article 218(3) of the Constitution, the commission was responsible for organising and conducting elections and ensuring that they were held honestly, fairly, and in accordance with the law, with safeguards against corrupt practices.

“The ECP, in exercise of its power under Article 220 of the Constitution and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, has requisitioned the services of Pakistan armed forces/civil armed forces in terms of Article 245 of the Constitution,” it read.

“The forces so deployed are empowered to exercise powers under section 4 and 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, for the duration of their deployment … in aid of civil power subject to law enforced in Pakistan,” it added.

The statement continued that the ECP under Article 220 of the Cons­ti­tution — read with Section 5 and Sec­­­tion 193 of the Elections Act, 2017 (XXIII of 2017) — has also auth­orised each designated officer in charge of Pakistan armed forces and civil armed forces as well as junior commissioned officer, to exercise the powers of a magistrate first class during their deployment for security.

They may take cognisance of offences under sections 176, 177, 183 and 194 of the Elections Act and conduct summary trials under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2025