LG polls in Karachi: JI demands deployment of Army and Rangers at all polling stations

KARACHI: The Karachi emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, has demanded that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ensure deployment of the army and Rangers personnel at the polling stations during the coming local government elections in the city on January 15 in order to ensure transparency and law and order.

The JI leader made the demand at a press conference held at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI Karachi headquarters, on Monday.He alleged that during the first phase of the local government elections in Sindh, the Pakistan Peoples Party managed to get over 1,000 of its candidates elected unopposed with the help of the governmental machinery.He added that the biased attitude of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) depicted ill-intentions of the PPP for the January 15 elections.

Against this backdrop, he said the deployment of the army and Rangers personnel at the polling stations would be critical to maintain smooth flow of affairs and transparency on the polling day. Rehman said he had already sent a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja asking for deployment of the army and Rangers personnel at the polling stations. He was of the view that the massive turnout of people in the JI’s Karachi Declaration Convention on Sunday showed that the people of Karachi wanted to elect the JI’s mayor.

Rehman said the ECP and chief election commissioner had the powers to summon the army and or any other institution for their assistance under the Article 220 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

The JI leader was of the view that all the polling stations in Karachi were sensitive as historically, polling results used to be forcefully changed with the help of all ill-practices, including bogus balloting.

Citing reports that showed the popularity of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on a downwards spiral, he expressed his apprehension that polling stations would be hijacked in order to conduct bogus stamping.