Intelligence agencies have no direct role in polls process

ISLAMABAD: There is no direct role of intelligence agencies in the entire election process, thus no official belonging to any agency could contact any member of the polling staff, returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs).

Senior spokesman of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Ch Nadeem Qasim, when contacted, told The News that these agencies had only an indirect role of feeding the commission through proper channel any intelligence report concerning polls.

The spokesman said that otherwise intelligence agencies are neither given any role by the ECP in connection with the elections nor the officials of these agencies are permitted to contact any member of the polling staff in a polling station, ROs, DROs, etc.

Army, police and some other law enforcing agencies have been called under the law for the assistance of the Election Commission and given a clear role defined in the code of conduct notified for the army and other security forces. The spokesman confirmed that no intelligence agency has been given any direct role in relation to the electoral process.

According to an official source, there have been incidents in the past where some intelligence officials had been interacting with ROs and DROs. It is said that it was never permissible under the law.

The source said that the Election Commission should formally issue a direction to all ROs and NROs to have no interaction with any intelligence official belonging to any of the agencies. With reports of alleged rigging and in view of what Justice Siddiqui disclosed recently, there are apprehensions that some elements related to intelligence agencies may try to influence the election process.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC)’s Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Wednesday said that not only phones of judges are being tapped but the court proceedings are manipulated. “It is a matter of great concern that even benches are constituted and cases are marked to different benches on the direction of such elements (belonging to intelligence agencies),” he added.

Regarding the security officials, including army personnel assigned election duties, the ECP has repeatedly said that their role will be squarely security specific and will not be involved in polling or pure election related jobs.

Although, the election related code of conduct as notified for the army and other law enforcing officials gives the security officials extended role as against the past, the Election Commission insists that no security official can interfere in the polling processes.