Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Raja Sultan has instructed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to provide security to Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam Fazl (JUI-F) election rallies amid threat reports.
The development comes as interior ministry had warned that there were serious threats to the lives of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Aimal Wali Khan.
In a letter to the chief secretaries and inspector general of police of all provinces and circulated by the ANP, the interior ministry had said it had received reports from reliable sources revealing serious threats to the lives of the Maulana and Aimal.
“It is requested that extreme caution and vigilance is exercised and necessary security arrangements are made at Maulana Fazl and Aimal’s residences and during movement and public gatherings to avert any untoward incident,” it said in a letter.
Meanwhile, JUI-F leader Maulana Hafiz Waqas submitted an application in election commission, seeking security for party workers and rallies ahead of general elections.
Responding to the application, CEC Sikandar Raja Sultan directed the KP IG to make necessary security arrangements at JUI-F election rallies. “Law and order should be maintained in the election campaign”, he added. It is pertinent to mention here that the JUI-F’s chief convoy was targeted in a brazen attack at the Yarik Interchange in Dera Ismail Khan.
KP police said vehicles part of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s convoy went to Yarak area for refuelling when the incident occurred, but the politician was not present on the spot. Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November.
Fazl has called on the caretaker government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure the law and order situation, stressing that it wasn’t the right time to be holding the general elections.
