Minister says caretaker govt striving to ensure fair polls

NOWSHERA: Caretaker Minister for Information Mian Feroz Jamal Shah Kakakhel on Saturday said the first priority of the government was to conduct free and fair elections and to provide a level playing field to all political parties.

Talking to the media after inspecting the polling stations set up at the Government College of Technology, Nowshera, he said that security arrangements had been made to ensure the holding of the free and fair elections. He said the political workers, including the candidates, should cooperate with the district administration, the police, election commission’s officials.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Nadim Aslam Chaudhry, Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan Gandapur, Deputy Commissioner Khalid Iqbal Khattak and District Police Officer Nasir Mehmood were also present.

The minister said that a monitoring cell had been established at the provincial level to ensure transparent elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on February 8. “There will be no compromise on security,” he said. He said that there were around 4,000 polling stations in KP that had been declared sensitive or the most sensitive and these would be provided extra security.

Nadim Aslam Chaudhry said the government and the police force including the district administration were trying hard to ensure that the general elections were held in a transparent manner. He said all political parties and candidates had a level-playing field.

Full arrangements have been completed and additional personnel will be deployed in the sensitive and most sensitive polling stations while these polling stations will be monitored, he said.

He called upon the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to play their role in making the February 8 elections fair and transparent.