The Pakistan Army has reportedly refused to get involved in any election process. However, it has assured the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of its speedy availability should the need arise.
ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan was reported by the media as saying that the country’s army wants to stay away from providing security for upcoming polling exercises. To clarify, a by-election on Karachi’s NA-245 is scheduled which fell vacant after PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain’s death. Moreover, polling for 20 constituencies in Punjab is also to be held on July 17 and for PK-7 on June 26.
Omar Hamid Khan said Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja wrote a letter to Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa, requesting the Army’s help. However, Omar Hamid Khan said that it’s now a policy of the armed forces that they want to stay away from the polling stations.
Read more: Will it be PDM vs PTI in Punjab by-polls?
In the 2018 elections, the ECP had granted broad judicial powers to the army at polling stations in a rare move that had attracted serious criticism by the majority of political parties and human rights groups.
At the time, about 371,000 troops were deployed across the country to control security arrangements; about three times the number deputed for the 2013 polls.
Violence at polling stations
Casting votes is an intense matter which is often marked by incidents of violence. Attacks on polling stations have taken place in nearly all local and general elections in Pakistan since 1970, and even before. Such violence invariably claims the lives of activists and workers, and sometimes even voters and passers-by become a target.
Recently, party workers of PSP, MQM-P, and TLP engaged in deadly clashes at Landhi No 6 during the by-polls for the national assembly seat NA-240, Karachi. The clashes left one dead and several others injured. Due to the violence, the CEC asked for the Army’s help.
Read more: Deadly clashes during by-polls for NA-240; one dead, multiple injured
https://twitter.com/NadeemfParacha/status/1537867310060474368?s=20&t=C4iFjVMDVcbZGBTMA_aPFQ
Similarly, in Balochistan’s local government elections last month, one person was killed and over 30 injured in grenade attacks, firing, and clashes between rival groups in different areas of the province. Polling had to be suspended at some stations.