Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said on Monday that there was “no crisis” in meeting the financial needs of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ahead of the Feb 8 polls.

“There is no crisis on meeting the financial needs of the ECP,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Whatever budgeted amount is needed by the ECP will be released as per its needs accordingly,” he said.

The statement came after media outlets reported that the commission had summoned the finance secretary today for the ministry’s failure to provide the funds allocated for general elections.

Solangi added that the federal cabinet had already approved Rs42 billion for the ECP’s “budgetary needs”, adding that Rs10bn had already been released. The minister said the electoral watchdog had approached the government to release Rs17.4bn out of the remaining budgeted amount.

“We firmly stand behind the ECP in holding free and fair elections as mandated by Article 218(3) of the constitution,” the information minister concluded.

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Imdadullah Bosal visited the ECP headquarters in Islamabad earlier today. During a brief interaction with the media while leaving the premises, he said the finance department would release the funds required for the upcoming elections.

“We will release the funds […] in two days,” Bosal said. “Whatever their (ECP’s) need is,” he added.

Last week, the ECP had rejected what it said were “baseless and misleading” reports about a delay in the upcoming general elections.

The statement had come in response to media reports that a request was submitted to the ECP to postpone the general elections, citing security concerns in Balochistan and the recent wave of terrorism.

The ECP and President Arif Alvi had agreed earlier this month on Feb 8, 2024, as the date for polls — an announcement that has stirred activity in the camps of major political parties.

ECP seeks army deployment for election security

Meanwhile, the ECP sent a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, to the interior ministry highlighting that there was a shortage of 277,558 security personnel for the upcoming elections.

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ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan wrote to Interior Secretary Aftab Akbar Durrani asking for arrangements to be made for the deployment of army soldiers and other security personnel at polling stations to “ensure smooth elections”, adding that it was all the more relevant due to the “context of fragile security cum law and order situation prevalent in country”.

The ECP secretary highlighted that according to Article 220 of the Constitution, all executive authorities of the Federation and provinces were bound to assist the electoral watchdog in this regard.

The letter also gave a breakdown of the total requirement of security personnel, the available strength of police and the shortfall shown by provinces and the capital city.

It said Islamabad required at least 9,000 security personnel and faced a shortage of 4,500, while Punjab’s available strength was 108,500 against a requirement of 277,610. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faced a shortage of 56,717 with only 92,360 available against a requirement of 149,077 security personnel.

In Sindh, the available strength of police was 105,000 personnel against the total requirement of 123,500. The available police personnel in Balochistan was 18,150 while the total requirement is 31,919.

The letter said confirmation of the availability of personnel from the Pakistan Army and civil armed forces in both static and quick response force modes for the shortage of security personnel should be given to the ECP not later than December 7 (Thursday).