The Ministry of Defence on Tuesday informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the Pakistan Army will not be available for election duty this year due to the “situation in the country”, noting that the security of the borders and the country was the army’s “first priority”.
During the ECP’s third session regarding the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies – chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja – Defence Secretary Lt General (retd) Hamood Uz Zaman Khan and Additional Defence Secretary Major General Khurram Sarfaraz Khan briefed the commission about the current situation of the country, a press release issued by the ECP said.
Pakistan has been witnessing a sharp rise in terror incidents for the last few months, which have taken the lives of several people, and as a result, the security forces have upped the ante against militants across the country.
The officials of the defence ministry apprised the participants of the session about the situation on the borders and the deployment of the army in the country, along with the overall law-and-order situation.
“The army attaches importance to its primary duties, and the security of the borders and the country is its first priority. Due to the current situation in the country, the Pakistan Army is not available for election duty at this time,” the ministry’s officials said. “Moreover, the current economic situation of the country has an effect on the army as well. And it will be the decision of the ruling administration whether it restricts the army to the performance of primary duties or assigns secondary duties to it – ie election duty.” They also clarified that if the army is assigned election duty, troops would be deployed in quick response (QRF) mode and static deployment of troops would not be possible.
It should be noted that on the orders of the Supreme Court, the polls for the Punjab Assembly elections will be held on April 30. Apart from this, the election schedule has also been announced and nomination papers are being submitted.
KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali has also announced May 28 as the date for elections in the province following a meeting with the ECP and President Dr Arif Alvi.
A total of three important meetings of the ECP were held, which were attended by members of the commission, the ECP secretary, and other senior officers.