Federal interior ministry calls on ECP to postpone by-polls
On Friday, the federal ministry of the interior asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the by-elections for a number of seats in the National Assembly, citing an uncertain situation in the country where safety would be close to impossible.
In a letter sent to the ECP, the ministry of the interior referred to the impending march of independence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Institute (PTI) and attempts to overthrow the government.
A political party wants to lay siege to Islamabad between 12 and 17 October, the ministry told the ECP.
It added that to thwart this effort, the federal government deployed a substantial contingent of security forces to Islamabad.
The interior ministry also highlighted that the country’s security forces were already occupied by rehabilitation works in flooded areas. It would not be possible to deploy these forces to keep the polling stations safe.
They asked the ECP to exercise its constitutional authority and defer by-elections and cited measures taken by the electoral body to postpone local organ elections and by-elections numerous times in the past.
Earlier, the Sindh government had asked the ECP to postpone local government elections in the province owing to the flood situation.