Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected the concern of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over the deployment of Pakistan Army and Rangers inside the polling stations during the by-election, scheduled today (October 17), on Sindh Assembly's seat PS-11 Larkana II, declaring that the said deployment is completely in accordance with the law.
Some reports have appeared in a section of media suggesting that the PPP has voiced concern over the ECP's decision to deploy Pakistan Army and Rangers inside the polling stations during the Larkana by-election and senior PPP leader Farhatullah Babar has also written a letter to the ECP in this regard.
In response, the ECP Wednesday said in a statement that it has granted Pakistan Army and Rangers Class 1 magistracy powers as per the Section 193 of Election Act 2017. The decision has been taken to maintain the law and order during the by-election so as to allow the voters to exercise their right to franchise independently, the statement said.
The ECP said it is its constitutional responsibility to hold elections in accordance with the Article 218 of the Constitution of Pakistan and take all the necessary steps for ensuring not only free, fair and impartial elections but also to create an environment for the voters to vote freely.
The 218 (3) reads, "It shall be the duty of the Election Commission to organize and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against."
The Section 193 of Election Act 2017 reads, "Certain offences triable by authorized officers.-Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, an officer exercising the powers of a civil or criminal court, or an officer of the Armed Forces, or an officer performing a duty in connection with an election, who is authorized by the Commission in this behalf may-(a) exercise the powers of a Magistrate of the first class under the Code in respect of the offences of personation, or capturing of polling station or polling booth punishable under section 174; and (b) take cognizance of any such offence under -and shall try it summarily-"
Last month, the ECP announced by-election on PS-11, Larkana-II, after the Supreme Court disqualified Moazzam Ali Khan from the provincial assembly seat for failing to declare his assets on a petition moved by PPP's Nida Khuhro. Khan was elected member of provincial assembly (MPA) from the said seat in the July 2018 general elections on the ticket of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) after defeating Nida Khuhro, the daughter of President PPP Sindh PPP Nisar Khuhro, when he was disqualified from contesting the general elections from PS-11, Larkana-II, after Moazzam Khan challenged his papers before ECP.
Moazzam is again contesting today's by-election where tight contest is expected between him and PPP's Jameel Soomro.
On October 12, the ECP issued a show cause notice to chairperson PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other party leaders for visiting the PS-11 constituency ahead of the by-election, which is violation of the Section 17 of the ECP's Code of Conduct for by-elections.
This Section reads, "The president, prime minister, chairman/deputy chairman Senate, speaker/deputy speaker of an assembly, members of the Senate or an assembly, federal ministers, ministers of state, governors, chief ministers, provincial ministers and advisors to the prime minister and the chief ministers, mayors/chairmen/nazims their deputies and other public office holders shall not participate in election campaign in any manner whatsoever."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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