ISLAMABAD: Despite the Supreme Court’s orders for necessary assistance, the Ministry of Interior and Finance has informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of certain factors due to which the constitutional body has not provided security for conducting elections in Punjab and Khyber. And there are difficulties in providing funds. – Pakhtunkhwa, JEE News reported.
The development came to light when Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a meeting with top officials of the ministries regarding the preparations for the elections.
The Finance and Home Secretary were called in the meeting to ensure the provision of funds and security for the elections.
ECP told Finance Secretary Hamid Yaqub Shaikh that at least 65 billion rupees will be required to conduct general elections across the country. Out of this, 20 billion rupees will be required immediately for elections in Punjab and KP.
Sheikh was informed that so far only Rs 5 billion had been provided to the ECP and the required Rs 15 billion was yet to be received in the current financial year.
According to the report of JEE News, the Finance Secretary briefed the Commission on the overall economic situation of the country. He said that it was difficult for the ministry to provide the required funds but he promised that he would give a final answer after consulting the federal government.
A source associated with the meeting told JEE News that the finance secretary explained that the country was facing an unprecedented economic crisis. He added that the country is under the IMF program and has strict targets to maintain fiscal discipline and fight the deficit.
Meanwhile, regarding election security, Home Secretary Yusuf Naseem Khokhar told ECP that law enforcement agencies other than the police in both provinces would need 297,000 additional personnel in Punjab and 56,000 in KP.
During the meeting, the Secretary was urged to contact the Army, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies and inform them to make necessary force arrangements.
The forum was also informed that a meeting will be held on March 10 (today) with agencies including the Intelligence Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and counter-terrorism departments of the two provinces. Police chiefs and chief secretaries of Punjab and KP have also been summoned for the meeting next week.
Along with this, a meeting is being held with the Ministry of Defense to finalize the arrangements for the election. The KP Governor has also expressed his desire to hold a meeting with the commission next week to fix the date for the provincial elections.
However, the ECP clarified in the meeting that holding general elections is a constitutional obligation, and also referred to the Supreme Court’s recent judgment in the Spontaneous Notice case. The commission therefore asked the authorities to seek instructions from the federal government on how to proceed.
