Pakistan
October Polls Will Not Be Under Army Supervision: Defense Official
By
Asif Farooqi, IOL Pakistan correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
August 22 (IslamOnline) – The Pakistani military government has
ruled out the possibility of polling stations being supervised by the
armed forces during the October general elections, diminishing fears
expressed by certain political groups that the government might try to
influence the polling by stationing army monitors under the pretext of
security.
“The
border situation does not allow us to engage our armed forces in any
civil activity including the monitoring of the polls in October”
said Lt Gen Hamid Nawaz, Secretary Ministry of Defense in Pakistan,
while talking to a reporter in Islamabad on Tuesday, August 20.
There
is precedence when the armed forces were invited by the civil
governments to supervise the polling stations on the day of polling
for smooth ballot casting and strengthening security.
In
the 1993 elections, thousands of armed forces were stationed at the
polling stations throughout the country to monitor the polling
process.
Some
political groups, mostly those opposed to the military regime were
privately expressing fears that under the security pretext the regime
may invite the armed forces to supervise polling.
During
the 1993 elections, large scale rigging allegations were leveled
against the elected candidates of the Pakistan People Party (PPP). The
losing candidate had alleged that the army personnel had influenced
the balloting and counting favoring the PPP candidates.
While
ruling out the possibility of the army’s availability for election
duties, General Nawaz said that an “extra-ordinary” number of
troops had been deployed along the eastern borders to match the Indian
deployment.
“It
takes at least three months to redeploy such a big number of troops so
it won’t be possible even if the government request comes forth at
this point of time,” Nawaz said.
The
polls would be held under police security and in some cases rangers
would be deployed at sensitive locations.
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