Army personnel deputed for election duty have been empowered to pass sentence on-the-spot during election duty. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) through a notification has empowered army personnel deputed for election duty to exercise the powers of a magistrate and hold on-the-spot trial for breaking election laws and sentence them.
Those found guilty of the offence of 'corrupt practice' may be imprisoned for up to six months along with financial penalties depending on nature of the offence.
DG ISPR General Asif Ghafoor has categorically denied that security forces have any direct role in holding the July 25 elections and consistently maintained that the army is following the ECP instructions.
The deployment of troops has been completed across the country in their identified area of responsibility with the objective of providing mandated assistance to ECP for conducting free, fair and transparent elections, the ISPR said in a statement, adding that the army will coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and local administration to ensure safe and secure environment.
The military official told Business Recorder that the main reason for deployment of the army at polling stations is to maintain security in the country. The deployment of army personnel is necessary to ensure peaceful election process he said adding that the military received similar powers at least once before - during a series of special elections in 2013.
The Pakistan Army has said it would deploy 371,388 troops at 85,000 polling stations for the 25 July election which is about three times the number during the last election in 2013.