Elections would be fair, free and held on time: Minister for Information

Lahore: Dispelling fears about delay of elections, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arif Nizami said on Friday the caretaker government would hold timely elections in fair and free manner.

This he said while addressing a joint press conference along with Minister for Law and Justice Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Secretary Interior Khawaja Siddique Akbar to brief the media about a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Justice (R) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso for reviewing law and order situation in the country.

Arif Nizami said that 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 caretaker chief minister
Punjab Najam Sethi, caretaker chief minister Balochistan Nawab Ghaus Bukhsh Barozai and caretaker chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (R) Tariq Pervaiz.

Chief Secretary Sindh attended the meeting on behalf of the Sindh CM. Governor Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, Secretaries interior and defence, chief secretaries of four provinces, Director Generals of ISI and IB also attended the meeting. They discussed the overall political situation in the country with special focus on the prevailing law and order.

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 maintained that as they were approaching the election day, law and order situation was becoming a challenging task for the caretaker government, said Nizami. “It is the duty and obligation of the government to provide a conducive atmosphere for the conduct of fair and transparent elections,” he added.

Prime Minister Khoso further said that there was a need to restore and strengthen confidence of people by ensuring a peaceful environment during the elections and by maintaining law and order.

Nizami informed the media that Chief ministers of Punjab, KPK and Balochistan and Chief Secretary Sindh gave detailed briefing about law and order situation in their respective provinces.

The meeting was informed that 90000 polling stations will be set up for 272 National Assembly and 728 Provincial Assembly seats in the country.

Nizami said that the KPK  CM asked the federation to provide 10,000 security personnel and federation agreed to provide the required security men.

It was also decided that foreign election observers will be provided foolproof security so that they could perform their duties safely.

The meeting decided that special arrangements will be made for holding public meetings during election campaign and the candidates will have to inform the district management in advance.

Nizami said that a special cell has been establish din Interior Ministry to collect sensitive information from provinces and intelligence agencies and take action in this regard.

He said that Pakistan Army’s Quick Reaction Force will be constituted which will be deployed in the sensitive areas as per need.

Replying to media persons questions,Arif Nizami said that in Musharraf case all the orders and directives of the courts will be implemented in letter and spirit.

Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi said that law enforcement agencies were handling the situation after the cancellation of Musharraf’s bail and the caretaker government was not interfering in their affairs.