HYDERABAD, Dec 13: The provincial caretaker home minister, Brigadier (Rtd) Akhtar Zamin, has stressed upon the political parties and those contesting general elections to follow the code of conduct of the Pakistan Election Commission.
He was talking to notables of Hyderabad district at Circuit House here on Wednesday night.
He said that keeping in view the present charged political scenario, some public places were being identified for holding public meetings in connection with general elections.
He advised the leaders of political parties and contesting candidates not to organise their public meetings on main arteries which may disturb traffic flow and routine of common people and asked them to contact DCO and DPO concerned for holding such meetings in a peaceful manner.
He said that two public meetings at the same place and same time would not be allowed because of security reasons. He said that all the DCOs and DPOs have been directed to keep close liaison with the leaders of the political parties and contesting candidates and to ensure peaceful atmosphere at their concerned district.
He said that the caretaker set-up is determined to maintain its neutrality at all cost and to facilitate all political parties and contesting candidates without any discrimination. However, it could only be possible when all political parties cooperated with the caretaker government and Election Commission of Pakistan.
Responding to a suggestion from a notable he directed the RPO Hyderabad to set-up pickets at all major hospitals of the district to avoid any untoward incident.
Nawab Rashid Ali Khan and Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah lauded the role of Sindh Police in maintaining law & order situation especially in Hyderabad and said that coordination meetings between contesting candidates should be arranged to avoid any confusion and misunderstanding.
Najeeb Ahmed Memon from Qasimabad suggested that an effective system be evolved through media such as FM Radio to counter the negative rumours/propaganda about the polling process to ensure maximum turnout on the election day.
Former Chief Engineer of WAPDA, Sharif Ansari, stressed for public awareness for maintaining law and order and maximum turnout.
Earlier, the caretaker home minister Brigadier (Rtd) Akhtar Zamin while holding meeting with the delegation of Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries (HCCI) which called on him under the leadership of their President Haji Muhammad Yaqoob said that caretaker provincial government has decided to go ahead with the recruitment of 5,000 personnel in police department and added that a summary in this regard would be approved within a month.
He said at a meeting with officials of Matiari district that the Sindh government will provide security to political parties and they should cooperate in maintaining law and order during general elections.