PPP demands army, Rangers deployment in PS-104 on 25th

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi President Saeed Ghani has demanded that the entire PS-104, from where he is contesting the general elections, be declared highly sensitive and army and Rangers be deployed at every polling station in the constituency on July 25.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Ghani said deployment of army and paramilitary soldiers at every polling booth in PS-104 is necessary to maintain law and order on Election Day. He claimed that holding the elections in a peaceful manner in his constituency is a far-fetched idea right now because of the threatening and violent means being used by his rival candidate Irfanullah Khan Marwat of the Grand Democratic Alliance during his electioneering.

Ghani accused Marwat of openly resorting to threats and violence to harass his political opponents in the constituency. He said that certain policemen from the Mehmoodabad police station, including those implicated in the Intizar murder case, are involved in Marwat’s election campaign.

He said merely deploying two cops for the security of the candidates facing threats cannot ensure transparency and fairness in the electoral process. “The situation here is such that one favourite candidate is running his campaign while the other, less favourite candidate is being denied the same opportunity.”

He said the incident during the rally led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Lyari on July 1 shows that even the PPP chairman was not provided with adequate security by the local administration. He urged the election commission to adopt the same polling scheme that was in place in PS-104 during the 2015 local government elections.