Dispelling fears about delay in elections, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arif Nizami on Friday said the caretaker government would hold timely elections in a fair and free manner.
Addressing a joint press conference along with Minister for Law and Justice Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Interior Secretary Khawaja Siddique Akbar after a high-level meeting under the PM, Nizami said Prime Minister Justice (r) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso lauded the political parties for their active
participation in the ongoing electoral process and stressed upon Ministry of Interior and home departments to plug security holes which might affect the process.
The meeting was also attended by Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Ghaus Bukhsh Barozai and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Justice (r) Tariq Pervaiz.
Sindh chief secretary attended the meeting on behalf of the CM.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, secretaries for interior and defence, chief secretaries of four provinces, director generals of ISI and IB also attended.
The minister said the overall political situation in the country with a special focus on the prevailing law and order was discussed.
Nizami quoted the prime minister as saying that it was heartening to note that political parties representing all shades of political spectrum had decided to be part of the mainstream political process.
The prime minister further said there was a need to restore and strengthen confidence of the people by ensuring a peaceful environment during elections and by maintaining law and order.
Nizami said the chief ministers of Punjab, KP and Balochistan and Sindh chief secretary gave detailed briefing on law and order in their respective provinces.
The meeting was informed that 90,000 polling stations will be set up for 272 National Assembly and 728 provincial assembly seats in the country.
Nizami said the KP CM asked the federation to provide 10,000 security personnel and federation agreed to provide the required men.
It was also decided that foreign election observers would be provided foolproof security so that they could perform their duties safely.
The meeting also decided that special arrangements would be made for holding public meetings during election campaign and the candidates would have to inform the district management in advance.
Nizami said a special cell had been established in the Interior Ministry to collect sensitive information from provinces and intelligence agencies and take action in this regard.
He said Pakistan Army’s Quick Reaction Force would be constituted that would be deployed in sensitive areas as per need.
To a question, Nizami said in Musharraf’s case, all orders and directives of the courts would be implemented in letter and spirit.
Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi said law enforcement agencies were handling the situation after the cancellation of Musharraf’s bail and the caretaker government was not interfering in their affairs.