Caretaker govt, ECP striving to conduct peaceful elections: Law minister tells Senate

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Law Minister Barrister Ali Zafar on Saturday said the interim government and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are striving to ensure peaceful conduct of general elections.

Winding up discussion on the motion regarding law and order and political situation in the Senate, the federal minister said the political parties and other segments of the society should support the caretaker government and the ECP in this regard.

He said the nation should stand united at this juncture and foil the sordid designs of anti-state elements who want to create a wedge in society.

He said that the Elections Act 2017 removed problems faced in previous elections, and has now empowered the election commission to conduct elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.

The minister said the government does not believe in the censorship of media, and regulatory body PEMRA has been made an independent organisation. He said the state-owned media is providing equal time to all political parties to project their activities and election agenda.

He also clarified that there is a code of conduct for the deployment of armed forces personnel at the polling stations, who will be deployed to ensure a peaceful environment on election day.

He minister also clarified that some designated officers have been given the magisterial powers but not the personnel who will be deployed at the polling stations. He said the list of these officers will be submitted to the Senate secretariat.

He said the presiding officers are responsible for sending the election results directly to the election commission by using a mobile application.