The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja has said on Tuesday that the province administration has the right to impose Section 144.
He said that the police commissioner and the chief secretary for Punjab both raised concerns about the state of peace in the province.
The CEC said that security concerns existed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and requested that the KP Governor, Haji Ghulam Ali, provide written notice about the Election Day in province.
He said that article 218 of the constitution dealt with free and fair elections, and in light of this, he called for over 353,000 additional security guards in addition to the police.
He said that the security institutions signaled the need for a swift reaction force and expressed worry about the security situation in Punjab and KP. He stated that, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directive, the Pakistani Election Commission would conduct the polls.
