——- Cabinet approves troops deployment during polls
——- Army deployment aimed for ensuring ‘free and fair’ general election
——- Summary states army, civil armed forces’ troops to perform duties at sensitive constituencies and polling stations
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: The caretaker federal cabinet approved on Tuesday the deployment of Pakistan Army and civil armed forces troops for the peaceful conduct of general elections on the recommendation of the Interior Ministry, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
These forces will perform duties at sensitive constituencies and polling stations and will also act as a rapid response force, it added.
The decision was made during a cabinet meeting presided over by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar. Discussions revolving around the current economic, political, and electoral situation in the country also came under discussion during the meeting.
Last month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had requested the federal government for the deployment of the army and civil armed forces personnel at polling stations during the upcoming gen-eral elections on February 8. The request, made through a letter addressed to Federal Interior Secretary Aftab Akbar Durrani, in-voked Article 220 of the Constitution, emphasising the duty of all executive authorities to support the ECP in fulfilling its functions. Later, during a corps commanders conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi with Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir in the chair, the top military brass said they would provide the “requisite and necessary” support to the ECP for the elections.
Meanwhile, the interim cabinet today also held a thorough discussion on the proposals made regard-ing the restructuring and digitisation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
The prime minister directed the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee under the supervision of the finance minister in light of the opinions of the cabinet members regarding the proposals pre-sented for the FBR reforms.
Other members of the committee will include federal ministers for privatisation, foreign affairs, com-merce, energy, law and justice, and information technology. The committee will present its recom-mendations regarding these proposals at the next meeting of the federal cabinet.
The cabinet appreciated the efforts of the Caretaker Finance Minister, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, for in-creasing tax revenue, improving the tax-to-GDP ratio, and presenting detailed proposals regarding the administrative structure of the FBR.
The official statement said that the prime minister and all members of the cabinet jointly supported the proposals for the FBR reforms and reiterated that the caretaker government would continue to play its full role in completing the FBR reform agenda.
