Pak opposition objects deployment of army at polling stations in KP's local polls

Pakistan opposition party Jamaat-i-Islami has expressed reservations about the deployment of the army troops to guard polling stations for the next phase of local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and said the Election Commission of Pakistan's decision shows its lack of confidence in the provincial government.

The ECP recently announced the schedule of the next local government election phase saying polling will be held in 18 districts on March 27 this year, Dawn reported.

Providing details of the decisions made in the party's provincial Shura here, the JI provincial chief Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said after the announcement of the schedule of the second phase of the LG elections, Prime Minister Imran Khan should postpone his scheduled visit to Dir district.

He said he would bring the violation of the code of conduct to the notice of the ECP and approach the courts as well. Mushtaq said the deployment of the army at polling stations during elections was clear no confidence in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, according to Dawn.

The party chief further said that the JI activists would take to the streets against the violation of the election code of conduct.

"The government is trying to influence elections through massive posting and transfer of the officers," Mushtaq Ahmad said, Dawn reported.

Mushtaq said seven acts of terrorism were reported in the country during the last one week, while street crimes and target killings were on the rise but the interior minister had limited himself to the TV talk shows.

The JI leader also flayed fuel price adjustment in electricity bills and the government had adjusted Rs 97 billion in the December and January power bills on that account.

He claimed that the International Monetary Fund was dictating the government on its economic policies, which caused unprecedented inflation, according to the Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan.

( With inputs from ANI )