ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s armed forces will deploy 371,388 troops across the country three days before polling day to support the electoral process, while it will have no direct role in holding of the general elections.
“The Election Commission of Pakistan has tasked the armed forces to help them conduct free and fair elections. We will help provide a conducive environment to all political parties and voters to exercise their democratic right without any fear,” Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The director-general Inter-Services Public Relations said that all doubts over the general elections were over and Pakistan is heading toward a third election in continuation of the democratic process.
“We have no direct role in the holding of the elections. Our only role is to facilitate the election commission in all its tasks,” he said, adding that the ECP will be called upon in case of any irregularity.
“The election commission has drafted a code of conduct for the armed forces too, and we are bound to obey that (during the election duty),” he said.
Ghafoor said that around 106 million registered voters will exercise their right to vote at 85,300 polling stations housed in 48,500 buildings across Pakistan.
A total of 371,388 troops will be required to ensure free and fair elections on the polling day and this will include 134,894 reserve troops and 4,000 each from the Navy and Air Force.
“All the troops’ deployment will be completed three days before the polling day,” he said, adding that two personnel will be deployed inside and two outside each polling station.
The DG ISPR said that all the troops assigned for the task have been trained to carry out their duties without interfering in the election process. “We have to assist the election commission being apolitical and impartial,” he added.
He explained that the ECP has entrusted the army with six tasks, including maintenance of overall security of the country, provision of security to printing presses, and aiding transportation of the ballot papers.
“Nobody will be allowed to coerce voters,” he said. “It will be the responsibility of the personnel deployed inside the polling station to ensure that only one ballot paper is put inside the ballot box at a time.”
Ghafoor recalled that this is not the first time that the armed forces troops have been deployed in the elections.
He said 192,000 troops were deployed in the 1997 elections for 35,000 polling stations as it was a full deployment. Then in 2002, the deployment was fewer than 35,500 troops for 64,470 polling stations “because the ECP only tasked it with overall security.”
In 2008, only 39,000 troops were deployed, even though the number of polling stations was much higher (64,176) because the troops were only in charge of the overall security.
The director-general ISPR said the 2013 elections were difficult security-wise because of the ongoing war on terror which led to many politicians receiving threats and an Awami National Party leader being killed during the election campaign. A total of 75,000 troops were deployed for security at 70,185 polling stations in the 2013 election, he said.
Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor said the armed forces have no political party and people are free to vote for their favorite leaders and candidates on polling day. “Go out and vote for whatever party and whatever leader you want to vote for. Let’s try to ensure that if the election turnout has been 40 percent in the past, it is much higher this time around,” he said.
To questions about political engineering and the role of the establishment in the elections, he said that there had been no election in the country’s history when political parties did not level allegations of rigging.
“People switch their parties and political loyalties before elections every time and this is part of the democracy,” he said, dispelling the impression of involvement of the country’s premier intelligence agency in the political engineering.
“We are not into politics ... we will continue doing our duties for the people of Pakistan,” he said. “It is for the people to decide through their vote as to who should be the next prime minister.”