ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday decided to deploy army troops to maintain peace during key by-elections in the country on Sunday to fill seats vacated by various candidates or where elections were canceled due to death of candidates. were postponed.
General elections were held across the country on 8 February to elect representatives to the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. Elections to one National Assembly, two Punjab Assemblies and one Sagar Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly were canceled respectively.
Apart from these, candidates who had won more than one seat opted for the vacant seat after the election, forcing the Election Commission of Pakistan to call by-elections on 21 seats, including five National Assembly and 16 provincial assembly seats.
Elections will be held on two seats each of Punjab Assembly, one seat of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, while elections will be held on twelve seats of Punjab Assembly and two seats each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan Assemblies.In Punjab, NA-132 (Kasur) and NA-119 (Lahore) were vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while Shehbaz also gave up his two provincial assembly seats in Lahore. However, he retained his NA-12 seat in the National Assembly.
Due to the prevailing law and order situation, the ECP had asked the federal government to approve the deployment of Pakistan Army and Civilian Armed Forces (CAF) troops to maintain peace, which supported the move and declared that The units of our armed forces are a quick reaction force.
The Interior Ministry, in its notification issued on Friday, said that CAF and Pakistan Army units will be used as the second and third layer of security and they will be available in all the two constituencies with immediate effect till April 22.
“The exact number of troops, date/duration, area and mode of deployment will be worked out by the ECP in consultation with all concerned stakeholders based on ground requirement/assessment. The date of cancellation of SAI deployment will be decided after mutual consultation among all stakeholders, the notification said.Separately, the Punjab government had also asked the federal government to suspend mobile internet services in 13 districts and tehsils of the province on April 21 to maintain law and order.
The move comes despite strong criticism from the media and political leaders over a similar move on February 8 when mobile services were suspended to maintain peace.
General elections were held across the country on 8 February to elect representatives to the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. Elections to one National Assembly, two Punjab Assemblies and one Sagar Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly were canceled respectively.
Apart from these, candidates who had won more than one seat opted for the vacant seat after the election, forcing the Election Commission of Pakistan to call by-elections on 21 seats, including five National Assembly and 16 provincial assembly seats.
Elections will be held on two seats each of Punjab Assembly, one seat of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, while elections will be held on twelve seats of Punjab Assembly and two seats each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan Assemblies.In Punjab, NA-132 (Kasur) and NA-119 (Lahore) were vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while Shehbaz also gave up his two provincial assembly seats in Lahore. However, he retained his NA-12 seat in the National Assembly.
Due to the prevailing law and order situation, the ECP had asked the federal government to approve the deployment of Pakistan Army and Civilian Armed Forces (CAF) troops to maintain peace, which supported the move and declared that The units of our armed forces are a quick reaction force.
The Interior Ministry, in its notification issued on Friday, said that CAF and Pakistan Army units will be used as the second and third layer of security and they will be available in all the two constituencies with immediate effect till April 22.
“The exact number of troops, date/duration, area and mode of deployment will be worked out by the ECP in consultation with all concerned stakeholders based on ground requirement/assessment. The date of cancellation of SAI deployment will be decided after mutual consultation among all stakeholders, the notification said.Separately, the Punjab government had also asked the federal government to suspend mobile internet services in 13 districts and tehsils of the province on April 21 to maintain law and order.
The move comes despite strong criticism from the media and political leaders over a similar move on February 8 when mobile services were suspended to maintain peace.
