Daily Times

Interim Chief Minister Punjab Dr Hassan Askari has expressed grief and sorrow over the murder of five persons of a same family in Bhalwal area of Sargodha. He conveyed heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. He also sought a report from the Inspector General Punjab and ordered him to probe into the matter. He said murderers will be brought to justice. He assured the victim’s family to provide them justice.

Caretaker Punjab CM Hassan Askari also expressed grief and sorrow over the death of Lahore Press Club member and senior journalist Jalil Hassan Akhtar.

In his message, he conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that Allah rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to his family.

Separately, Hassan Askari presided over a high level meeting in which arrangements for elections, security matters and law and order were discussed.

The meeting decided to provide fool proof security to the main leaders of political parties. The meeting also decided to provide box security for the movement of main leaders of political parties while necessary security cover will also be provided to contesting candidates. Addressing the meeting, Hassan Askari said security plan has been made for political parties during their election campaign. He said security will also be provided for rallies and public gatherings as per the decided plan.

“Special arrangements will be made to maintain law and order at sensitive polling stations. Polling stations will be monitored through CCTV cameras,” he said.

The interim CM also said that CCTV cameras should be completely professional and there should not be any complaint about their malfunctioning, adding that the security plan for rallies and public gatherings should be strictly implemented.

Participants of public gatherings should be scanned through walkthrough gates. He said the holding of general elections is a national responsibility and “our focus is free and fair elections, and all political parties will be provided equal opportunities”.

He said transparent elections are the main responsibility of the interim government therefore there should not be any difference between plans and their implementation. He said best administration should workout plans for any expected incident. The interim CM directed that polling material should be transported under strict security and polling staff should also be provided fool proof security. He said the security of polling booths and ballot boxes should also be ensured, adding there should not be any delay in the transportation of results and ballot boxes to returning officers. He said necessary security arrangements will be made for the protection of life and property of the people and public places. The interim CM said the system of intelligence sharing should be made more effective and strong, and political parties should avoid confrontation and clash, and keep the general environment peaceful. He said indecent statements should be avoided during election campaign, adding the code of conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan should be strictly implemented. He said the joint efforts of law enforcement agencies and other concerning departments are drastically needed.

Published in Daily Times, June 24^th 2018.