Army agrees to deploy troops in KP, says ECP

PESHAWAR: The secretary Election Commission of Pakistan said here on Thursday that the Pakistan Army had agreed to deploy troops to provide security during the repolling process of the local government elections on July 5.
The Secretary ECP, Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, was in Peshawar to meet Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and discuss with him the polling arrangements. An official handout said the secretary ECP told the chief minister that the commision will also inquire into the causes of mismanagement and violence in the May 30 polling in the provice.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Election Commissioner and the provincial Education Minister Muhammad Atif and Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan also attended the meeting.
The secretary ECP said that the army had accepted the ECP’s request for deployment at all the 365 polling stations. He said that keeping in view the incidents of mismanagement that occurred on May 30, the ECP had taken certain necessary measures to ensure smooth and transparent repolling on July 5, which also include better and clear printing of 2.3 million ballot papers.
Appreciating the cooperation of the provincial government with the ECP for holding the LG elections in the province, the secretary ECP said the world was also praising the establishment of the local government system under a democratic provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On the occasion, the chief minister referred to the May 30 incidents and said the provincial government was not in favour of holding the LG elections in the absence of the army. He welcomed the ECP efforts for the army deployment for repolling as per the demand of the provincial government.