The Shehbaz Sharif government has informed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the army will not be available for the upcoming elections due to the current “situation in the country”, according to a note sent by the government to the poll body.
Defence Secretary Lt General (retd) Hamood uz-Zaman Khan and Additional Defence Secretary Major General Khurram Sarfaraz Khan briefed the body about the current situation of the country, News18 has learnt.
“The army attaches importance to its primary duties and the security of the borders and the country is its first priority. Due to the current situation in the country, the Pakistan Army is not available for election duty at this time,” the Defense ministry’s officials said.
The ECP held back-to-back meetings with top Punjab officials and the secretary and additional secretary of the federal defence ministry to discuss security for the elections.
The statement comes amid the ongoing crisis in Pakistan where the state of Punjab is on the boil over attempts to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Islamabad Police on corruption charges.
Islamabad is reeling from a severe political and economic crisis and a respite from the troubles does not seem to arrive soon.
The Shehbaz Sharif government stated that the current economic situation of Pakistan has an effect on the country’s army as well.
“They also clarified that in case of election duty, the Army can be deployed in quick reaction force mode but it is not possible to perform duty in static mode,” the statement said.
The defence ministry officials said that the current economic situation of the country was also affecting the army.
Elections in the Punjab province of Pakistan are scheduled to be held on April 30, while in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the governor has proposed to hold elections in the province on May 28.
Imran Khan, who has resisted attempts by Pakistan Police twice this month, appealed his supporters to stand up for their rights and “continue the struggle” even if he is arrested or assassinated.
The PTI chairman’s video message was released on social media on Tuesday as police arrived at his Lahore residence to arrest him. Party workers reportedly hurled stones at police personnel as they baton-charged crowds of supporters gathered outside Zaman Park in anticipation of his arrest.
After the clashes that went in Lahore throughout on Tuesday, President Arif Alvi raised serious questions on the current situation of Pakistan in tweets, by saying “I am deeply saddened by today’s events —Unhealthy revenge politics. Poor priorities of govt of a country that should focus on economic misery of the people. Are we destroying political landscape? Am concerned about safety and dignity of Imran Khan like that of all politicians.”
Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif said in an interview was aware of the situation in the country, which was very bad, when he came into power and added that Pakistan was on the brink of default.
Shehbaz said he saw “more burden” on the masses in the coming days as the cash-strapped nation continues to meet tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) demands to secure a $1.1 billion loan tranche.
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