Islamabad: Interior Minister Gohar Ijaz has said that elections are scheduled to take place within 48 hours and law enforcement will not be compromised at any cost. There is no tension among all the candidates.
Accompanied by Federal Information Minister Murtaza Sulongi, Interior Minister Dr. Gohar Ijaz said at a press conference that no decision has been made to shut down mobile or internet services yet. If a request comes from a district or province based on security conditions, then the decision to shut down services will be considered.
Ijaz said that 7 to 8 security personnel will be deployed at each polling station, and sensitive polling stations will be monitored through CCTV cameras. Over 137,000 security personnel have been appointed for the protection of the public.
The Interior Minister assured that the elections will be peaceful, and a total of over 600,000 federal and provincial security personnel have been appointed for election security. He emphasized that the purpose behind the recent incidents was only to create fear and the government does not want to see Pakistan destabilized.
Dr. Gohar Ijaz stressed that the name and respect of Pakistan are in the hands of our media, held in trust for 25 crore people. He urged the people to vote with honesty in the upcoming elections.
The Interior Minister said that wherever there is CCTV, security measures have been put in place, with 90,777 polling stations in total. Out of these, 40,000 are non-sensitive polling stations, while 16,786 polling stations are highly sensitive. Additionally, the federal government has identified 135 sensitive polling stations.
Federal Information Minister Murtaza Sulongi stated that the Cabinet had announced elections to be held on February 8, 2024, and for the convenience of national and international journalists, the Ministry of Information has launched an online help line. He stressed that the elections will be held peacefully, and the security situation in 2018 was more peaceful compared to 2008 and 2013.
The Information Minister emphasized that the people of Pakistan have been fighting against terrorism for more than a decade, and the recent incidents have not dampened their spirits. He urged the people to exercise their right to vote on February 8.