Army to ensure security during tribal districts' polls: ECP

ISLAMABAD: The polling for the election at 16 tribal districts seats of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly will be held under supervision of the Army, ARY News reported on Friday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to entrust security arrangements for the polling to the military.

Army officials will monitor the polling process in the former tribal region.

The polling on 16 provincial legislature seats in the region will be held on July 20.

The election commission had earlier announced to hold elections in the tribal districts of former Fata region on July 02.

The polling date for the election later changed on the request of the provincial government.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government sought delay in the conduct of polls, citing law and order situation in the newly-merged tribal districts.

A meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (Retd) Sardar Raza Khan considered the government request and deferred the polling day to July 20.

The ECP had earlier enforced a ban over transfers and postings in government departments in the region.

The election commission had in April notified district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs) for general elections in the tribal districts.

The provincial election commissioner was appointed as returning officer for the five reserved seats from the region including four for women and one for non-Muslims.

Over 2.5 million voters will exercise universal suffrage to elect their representatives for the provincial legislature. There are at least 1.03 million registered women voters in the seven merged districts of the former tribal region.