Concerns raised over massive security for polls

ISLAMABAD: Concerns have mounted in Pakistan over massive security arrangements inside and outside the polling stations ahead of tomorrow’s (Wednesday) general elections.

Over 370,000 troops would be deployed nationwide to ensure the vote goes smoothly, the largest such deployment in the country´s history on an election day. Security analyst Talat Masood told AFP that such measures will create doubts in the minds of people.

Last week, Opposition Leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman feared conflicts and confusion in the polls. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said Sunday the security measures are meant to ensure a free and fair election.

"It would be difficult to call the elections free and fair," Ibn Abdur Rehman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told AFP Monday, following a press conference on media censorship during the campaign season. The increasingly bitter contest is expected to be a tight race between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).