The Election Commission of Pakistan has reiterated its position that no excuse will be accepted for the general elections. It will end in a peaceful environment. It should be remembered that at one time the situation had become so critical that the Election Commission of Pakistan had to explain in this regard and in view of the law and order situation.
It had to call a meeting in which while the Interior Secretary, Chief Secretary, Intelligence The representatives of the agencies and the Police Inspectors General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan participated and reviewed the issues and security in this regard in the country and made it clear to the public that the general elections will be held in any case.
It should be remembered that these concerns arose when there were talks of postponing the general elections in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which made all the election exercises meaningless.
The reason for these concerns was that two senior officials of the ECP There were statements, one of which said that so far no provincial government has delayed the elections but the elections may be postponed there with the approval of some constituencies and the other said that it depends on the risk.
The nature and severity of this will be decided later but fortunately the efforts of the ECP and the caretaker government disproved these misgivings as a no-nonsense decision was taken to go ahead with the elections across the country. It goes without saying that this decision is in line with the basic work of the ECP and the caretaker governments whether they are in the provinces or at the center will continue to hold elections.
In fact there have been several incidents of violence in various parts of the country in recent times, presenting mixed security threats, some related to political rivalries and some to the ongoing fight against terrorist groups. It may be recalled that 10 people were killed in a bomb blast at a PTI rally in Sibi on Tuesday for which the terrorist organization Isis has claimed credit.
Although it was not clear if the rally was actually the target, in another incident gunmen opened fire at the election office of an ANP candidate in Chaman over the issue of hoisting the party flag. He survived but one of his workers was killed. The next day, in a clearance operation, the security forces killed nine terrorists, including three suicide bombers, while four brave soldiers and two civilians also lost their lives.
Five PPK workers were injured when unidentified motorcyclists hurled a grenade at the election office of the party’s provincial assembly candidate. Meanwhile, a PTI defector was fielded as an independent candidate for the National Assembly and Provincial Assembly seats in Bajaur district of KP.
Earlier on Sunday an MQM worker was killed in a clash with PPP workers in Karachi. Unfortunately, election-related violence is not new in this country. In all the past elections, political opponents have been attacked with varying degrees of severity, resulting in the loss of precious lives many times.
As far as terrorist attacks are concerned, the last four general elections were the worst. But the situation is not complacent on the part of our law enforcement agencies. Security efforts need to be stepped up to ensure maximum public participation in the general elections.
It is hoped that on the occasion of the general elections, not only the security forces will provide security to the citizens but the citizens will also cooperate with the security forces in every possible way. It should be remembered that unless the citizens cooperate with the police. Better arrangements cannot be made, so after polling the city on the general election day tomorrow, do not stay in the polling station premises for a long time but leave for your homes. Make it easy for security personnel to perform their duties.
