KARACHI: Senator Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan Peoples Party has said that any presence of security forces within the precincts of polling stations will “cast a shadow on free, fair and transparent elections”, Dawn.com reported on Wednesday.

In a statement, Senator Rabbani said that security forces should be under the control and supervision of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs).

“Whereas the deployment of security forces is necessary for ensuring peace on election day, it is equally important that the security forces be beyond the precincts of the polling stations,” he said.

He further said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) must ensure that these two principles and the law were strictly followed.

“In the past, when both these elements were ignored it led to controversial elections,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2024