CoAS vows full support to ECP

Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday assured the support and cooperation of the armed forces to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with respect to security matters during the general election 2018.
While chairing the 211th Corps Commanders Conference at General Headquarters (GHQ), General Bajwa directed the armed forces to perform security duties for the election "with utmost responsibility" and without losing any focus on defence and internal security challenges in hand.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), around 400,000 armed forces personnel would be deployed in and outside the polling stations across the country.
The forum reviewed current geo-strategic environment and security-related developments in the region and also decided to continue contributing positively to efforts for peace and stability in the region. Progress in operation Radd-ul-Fasaad and socioeconomic development in areas cleared of terrorism were also discussed during the meeting.
During a meeting on election preparations earlier this week, ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad reportedly told caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk, four chief ministers and other top-level officials that the army would come under the code of conduct for security personnel to be formally notified, a guiding principle according to which the presiding officers would call the shots.
The army personnel have already been deployed at printing facilities in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad where the printing of ballot papers will start from July 1.
Attendees of the meeting were informed that election material had been dispatched to provincial and district headquarters. It was highlighted that army helicopters and C-130 planes would be required for transporting the ballot papers, and that security would be required for training venues, election-related officials, candidates and political leaders.
The ECP secretary also briefed the meeting on the code of conduct that had been worked out for contesting candidates, presiding officers and polling staff, security agencies to be deployed for election duties, media and election observers.
The military sources said the personnel who retired from services during the last two years would also be called in for deployment. The army would be deployed across the country four days before the polling during which troops would be stationed in and outside the polling stations. Additional personal would be deployed at the sensitive polling stations.
Earlier this week, the caretaker government held a meeting to review security measures for the general elections by engaging military, paramilitary and law enforcement agencies. Caretaker Prime Minister former Justice Nasirul Mulk was briefed in detail by officials of the interior and defence ministries regarding security arrangements for the conduct of the upcoming polls. Prior to this meeting, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on PM Mulk to discuss security matters in connection with the general election.