Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor categorically said on Tuesday the army is apolitical and will perform election duties in a "non-political and impartial manner." The DG ISPR, while terming the second democratic transition of power in Pakistan a continuity of the democratic process, said the armed forces will only support the Election Comm-ission of Pakistan (ECP) in its duties according to the code of conduct provided by the Commission itself. He said the military has rendered services during previous elections too.
He said that in 1997, 192,000 troops had been deployed on duty to oversee 25,000 polling stations for what he termed a "full deployment". Then, in 2002, the army deployed less than 35,000 troops for 64,470 polling stations "because the ECP only tasked the Army with overall security." Likewise, in 2008, 39,000 troops were deployed even though the number of polling stations was much higher (64,100) because the troops were, again, only in-charge of overall security.
He added that the 2013 elections had been difficult security-wise because of the ongoing war against militancy.
He said that in the 2018 elections, 105.95 million eligible voters will be able to exercise their right to vote at 85,307 polling stations, hosted inside 48,500 buildings as more than one station may exist in the same building. A total of 371,388 security forces personnel will be deployed for election duty.
"The civil armed forces and retired personnel are also being commissioned for the purpose while considering the situation on our borders," he said, adding that the total deployment includes 134,894 reservists who have retired from forces within the past five years and around 4,000 personnel each from Pakistan Air Force and Navy.
General Ghafoor explained that this time around, the ECP has entrusted the Army with six tasks: (i) maintenance of overall security in the country; (ii) provision of security to printing presses; (iii) transportation of the material before election day; (iv) transportation of material from RO office to polling stations as well as security of polling staff on polling day; (v) deployment on polling day inside and outside polling stations; (vi) and securely transporting election material and polling staff back to Election Commission offices.
He clarified that the army will not take over any printing material during the entire process and that the ECP will have its officers present at all times, whom the soldiers will only provide security to.
He said that on polling day, troops will be stationed both inside and outside the polling stations. Two security officials will be present inside and two outside each of 20,831 'sensitive' polling stations, he said, while deployment will be lower at non-sensitive polling stations.
The DG ISPR said that the army has, along with the ECP, set up an Army Election Support Center which will ensure coordination with the Commission.
The troops, he said, will ensure that only polling staff, polling agents, voters and other authorized people can enter the stations.
"We have to help the ECP in a non-political and non-partisan manner," General Ghafoor said. He said no unauthorized person would be allowed at the printing presses until the printing of election material is completed by July 21. He also said that the troops would accompany ECP officials during the transportation process only to protect material from falling into the hands of any unauthorized person. He added that the ECP will have complete support of the armed forces, and military helicopters and airplanes may also be used for transportation if the need arises.
"If you see any irregularity on election day, please make a note and bring it to our notice," he said. "Report it to the ECP and report to us," he added.
"Go out and vote for whatever party and whatever leader you want to vote for," he continued. "Let's try to ensure if the election turnout had been 40 percent in the past, it is much higher this time around."
Answering a question regarding alleged role of ISI's Major General Faiz Hamid in matters outside his domain, the army spokesperson said that Major General Hamid has played an important role in combating terrorism and his detractors do not understand the scope of his post.
While answering a question regarding political engineering, he said, "106 million Pakistanis will vote and is it possible for us to go to every citizen and tell him who to vote for?" He also rejected the claim that military is influencing the elections.
"Every single person should go out and vote for a candidate of their choice without any fear," he further urged.
With regards to a question regarding the involvement of banned outfits in the polls, he said, "The ECP has a process of registering political parties and anyone who has objections can approach the electoral body."
Responding to a question regarding "extraterrestrial beings", Major General Ghafoor said, "We are not political."
In response to a question that whether the army will accept Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan as prime minister, Major General Ghafoor said, "Whoever the people of Pakistan elect, will be the prime minister for us and the nation." Major General Ghafoor clarified that the ISI had no role in the incident in Multan wherein an election hopeful was beaten up. With regards to reports that the 'jeep' electoral symbol signifies association with the army, he quipped, "The jeep is not even the army jeep."
"Electoral symbols are neither issued by the armed forces nor the ISI," General Ghafoor said adding: "Please stop looking at everything with suspicion."
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