Pakistan Elections 2013 Security News & Discussions

[Jango]

Their claim is hat they have not been provided security for electioneering - and it's a valid claim, especially in the light of 700 policemen being made available to Tabllegi Jammat

I was referring to the second part of your post, regarding the army and elections...

 

[muse]

unfortunately the duffers of the Pakistan Army have once again made it possible that free and fair elections will not be held in Pakistan.

By vacillating, hand wringing and ultimately doing nothing to provide security where it is most needed, the so called Pakistan Army has ensured that ANP is essentially sidelined, the same is true for the MQM - instead thousands of troops are being sent to the relative safety of Balouchistan, a province of 4 to 6 million, while KPK and FATA are left to the TB, as is KHI

 

[Jango]

By vacillating, hand wringing and ultimately doing nothing to provide security where it is most needed, the so called Pakistan Army has ensured that ANP is essentially sidelined, the same is true for the MQM - instead thousands of troops are being sent to the relative safety of Balouchistan, a province of 4 to 6 million, while KPK and FATA are left to the TB, as is KHI

It was not the decision of the Army to be deployed there. I guess you haven't been following the local media lately.

The teachers and professors of around 8-9 districts in Balochistan refused to do their duties on election day and wrote to the ECP about it. They were worried about their safety. They made a condition after negotiations that they will do their duties only if Army is deployed, and this was done , by orders from the ECP and government and not by the Army.

Secondly, Sindh will also have Army soldiers present in select constituencies, and in all stations of Karachi. Same with KPK. Punjab will have a QRF on standby.

Just saw on the 9 o clock news bulletin, they confirmed that the army will be deployed in KPK and Sindh tomorrow while later in Punjab.

So Army presence is in every place, not just Balochistan.

Just saw on ARY, Army to take control of all affairs in Balochistan today, will be deployed in Sindh and KPK tomorrow and in Punjab and Isl will be maintained as QRF, press conference by DG ISPR.

 

[muse]

However this close to the election, the die has already been cast

 

[indian_foxhound]

Pakistan's elections are being called the
bloodiest ever. But that's not the only reason
why they stand apart. There's another message on the back of black T-
shirted elite anti-terrorism police - NO FEAR, in
bold white capital letters. And it's not just well-trained muscled gunmen at
campaign rallies who want to say they're not
afraid. Leaders of three political parties, publicly
threatened by Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, stood
shoulder-to-shoulder and announced this week
they would not be cowed by their threats of
violence. Not a day goes by without election attacks and
deaths on the front pages of Pakistani
newspapers. Despite that, opinion polls are indicating there
could be a record turnout, higher than the 44% in
the last elections in 2008. That's partly because of a surge in young voters.
An estimated 31% of the electorate is between
the ages of 18 and 29. "You could say these are the first youth
elections," writer and former Pakistani
Ambassador Maleeha Lohdi told the BBC. "There's
also a new enthusiasm among all voters which is
good news for Pakistan."
'Eye-to-eye contact'
As we start our Pakistan election coverage,
we've attended election meetings and rallies in
the capital Islamabad and in the most populous
and relatively peaceful Punjab province. Party leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan
make a point of removing bullet-proof glass
shields from their speaker podiums to address
large crowds now being held back at a safer
distance. "It's better to have eye-to-eye contact," PML-N
leader Nawaz Sharif told me before one rally this
week in Sarghoda in Punjab. "We're still going door to door, shop to shop,
where we can," said Shafqat Mahmood, a
candidate for Imran Khan's PTI party in the city of
Lahore. Campaign organisers admit they've had to cancel
rallies planned for volatile cities like Karachi in the
south, or in the northwest close to the tribal
areas, for security reasons. Some parties, including the Pakistan People's
Party (PPP), are being accused of using the threat
of violence as an excuse for lacklustre campaigns
and what's expected to be their dismal
performance in some areas on polling day - the
more usual danger in democracy. But the danger of violence is all too real. In
sensitive areas like Balochistan province, there
are reports some election workers don't want to
man polling stations because they fear for their
lives. The Pakistan army has announced 70,000 troops
will be deployed in four provinces on election
day, along with thousands of police and other
security forces. The 11 May election will be not just one of
Pakistan's most important elections. It will also
mark another decisive showdown between
forces determined to shape this country through
violence, and those who still believe the ballot
box matters in trying to resolve Pakistan's growing crises. Lyse Doucet's reports from Pakistan will feature
on BBC World News and Newsnight next week.

http://mobile.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22384537

 

[pak-marine]

Free and fair elections depend on security situation: CEC
By Web Desk / AFP Published: May 2, 2013

Chief Election Commissioner Justice Fakharuddin G Ebrahim. PHOTO: APP

ISLAMABAD: We can guarantee free and fair elections if the government can ensure security, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim said on Thursday, Express News reported.

Ebrahim made this statement while presiding over a session held to review election-related issues.
He further said that maintaining law and order was not under the Election Commission’s control.
The ECP has recently taken various steps to ensure foolproof security on general election day.
Various political parties have come under terror attack following the announcement of election date, with left-wing parties being the main target. Members of these parties have criticised the ECP for not ensuring security of political activists, raising concerns over the possibility of free and fair elections.

Security measures
Around 600,000 security personnel will be deployed during the general election, ECP Media Director Khurshid Alam said.
He further added that the election commission has set up more than 73,000 polling stations, with 20,000 earmarked as “sensitive or most sensitive.”

Alam said the number of “sensitive” locations could be increased.
“The army has promised to provide 50,000 troops for election day security,” he said, adding that the number may be increased if deemed necessary.

“They will be part of a total deployment of over 600,000 security personnel and members of the other law enforcement agencies like police, paramilitary rangers, tribal police and national volunteers,” he said.

Five security personnel will be stationed at each polling station, and seven to 10 at sensitive and most sensitive polling stations, Alam said.

Most attacks during the campaign have been claimed by the Taliban, which has branded democracy “un-Islamic” and a system for infidels.

 

[haviZsultan]

Wait the article mentions the Zehri's. Wasn't it the Zehri's who are responsible for burying girls alive and then justifying it by saying it is a part of Baloch culture? Its amazing... our ability to elect idiots of the highest order can never fail to amaze... or for a better word shock.

The human rights situation at home in Pakistan is not right. We must ensure equal rights to everyone and we should always shame politicians like Zehri and Khar. Even Waheeda Shah was found slapping a polling agent.

 

[fatman17]

•In an address on Thursday to the ECP in Islamabad, Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim said that it will be difficult to hold a free and fair election in Pakistan's current security climate, despite the ECP's detailed security plans.[5]

then whats the point....its going to be a free for all.....sindh polls will be the most rigged.

 

[Xeric]

DG ISPR's Press Conference - Election 2013

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=490844814320485&set=vb.438762759487669&type=2&theater



Farig baith k loochain nikalnay walay hazraat...thanda khao....

 

[Jango]

Ballot papers arriving at Chaman:

 

[Jango]

90000 fake ballot papers caught from a vehicle in Chakdara in Lower Dir, 90000 fake votes can win you a seat in a assembly!

3 people have been arrested...pre poll rigging attempt foiled.

WEll done by the police, 90k is a huge number.

 

[Jango]

 

[Last Hope]

90000 fake ballot papers caught from a vehicle in Chakdara in Lower Dir, 90000 fake votes can win you a seat in a assembly!

3 people have been arrested...pre poll rigging attempt foiled.

WEll done by the police, 90k is a huge number.

90K is a huge number, but this is not realistic enough. There are many more out there, hope they are rounded up too.

 

[Jango]

90K is a huge number, but this is not realistic enough. There are many more out there, hope they are rounded up too.

The latest news is that they were from JI, the excuse is that they were made so as to give a trial run to the voters so they vote for the right guy, seems bollocks to me though.

ECP has taken notice.

 

[iam not greek]

Politics in Pakistan is a dangerous game. As the country gears up for its first ever democratic transition from one elected government to another, militants have drastically upped the violence. In the last three weeks, there have been around 50 bomb blasts, mainly targeting secular, liberal parties. More than 80 people have been killed, including two contesting candidates, and more than 350 people have been injured. It is no wonder that many are describing this as Pakistan's bloodiest election ever.

Amid this deluge of violence, it can be easy to lose sight of the individuals who have lost their lives. On Friday, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, the main prosecutor in the case of Benazir Bhutto's murder, was shot dead in Islamabad. Ali was driving to a hearing pertaining to the Bhutto case, when two gunmen on motorbikes shot him multiple times in the head and chest. Several hours later, in an apparently unrelated attack in Karachi, Sadiq Zaman Khattak, a candidate for the Awami National party (ANP), was shot dead, along with his six-year-old son. He was the first National Assembly candidate to be killed during this campaign.

Taken together, the two murders demonstrate how political violence – whether one is actually a party politician, or merely sticking one's head above the parapet – has become the norm in Pakistan. The scale of political deaths is dizzying; the ANP alone has lost 700 members to terrorism in the past five years. The death toll of prominent public figures – such as Bhutto, and former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer – is rising, yet most of the time their killers never face justice.

Ali's death, in particular, illustrates the precariousness of the situation. There is no clarity about who killed him. Certainly, as one of Pakistan's most senior criminal lawyers, he had no shortage of enemies. At the time of his death, he was prosecuting seven men for their alleged role in the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, which were orchestrated by militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Yet, as has been widely reported, he was also in the process of leading the charge against the former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, who is accused of failing to provide adequate security for Bhutto before her death. Ali had received death threats. There is a grim irony that his friends say he was never given the extra security detail he was promised. As yet, no militant organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the police have not given an official statement on who is to blame.

In a country where conspiracy theories are the national pastime, it took just hours for it to circulate that Ali had been killed not by militants but by the powerful security agencies. Ever since Musharraf's arrest, many have said that it is inconceivable that the army would allow a former leader to be tried for acts committed while he was head of the military. Most people I've spoken to since Ali's death view it as a veiled threat to those seeking to pursue the case.

Whether or not this turns out to be true – and of course, it is entirely possible that Ali was killed by one of the militant groups he had angered – a very real question exists. If you can have no trust in those supposed to protect you, you are incredibly vulnerable. The military and intelligence officially severed ties with militant groups more than a decade ago, but in practice all elements have not maintained this separation. Groups such as LeT have attacked military targets, yet elements of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) still support them and use them to fight proxy wars in India and Kashmir.

Most of the deaths in this election campaign have been at the hands of militants. Yet when it comes to political deaths, the hands of the security services are far from clean. The ISI has undoubtedly been involved in extrajudicial killings of separatist politicians in Balochistan, for starters. Domestic journalists, remarkably free on most topics, are cautious when it comes to reporting on the ISI or senior military leadership.

This lack of trust in official agencies reflects and feeds back into Pakistan's fundamental barrier to tackling militancy: the fact that the security services do not speak with one voice when it comes to terrorism. We do not know – and probably will never find out – who was responsible for Ali's death. But it demonstrates the delicate balancing act in Pakistan, where it is fatally dangerous to anger either the militants who oppose the democratic process, or the security forces who are supposed to defend it.

Pakistan's deadly democracy | Samira Shackle | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk