Solangi says free and fair elections to be held on Feb 8

Federal Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi has said that all is set to hold free, fair and transparent elections on Thursday.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Saturdayday, Solangi said the caretaker government has been consistent from the day one that elections would be held on the date given by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He said more than ample resources have been provided to ensure free and fair election on Thursday.

The Information Minster said the government has made foolproof security arrangements on the polling day for the voters at the polling stations.

He said the main responsibility of providing security would be rest with the police as the first tier, while the Civil Armed Forces would be there to assist as the second tier and Armed Forces of Pakistan would assist as the Quick Reaction Force in third tier.

Murtaza Solangi said Pakistan has been the fifth democracy of the world where the elections are taking place consistently.

He said a total of more than 128 million voters including over 50.9 million women voters will exercise their right to vote for 266 National Assembly seats. He said the elections are also being held to elect representatives for the four provincial assemblies.

He said ninety-two international observes would also cover the election process in the country.

Replying to a question, the Information Minister said media in Pakistan is free and everybody has right to express and criticize.

To another question, he said the government would ensure peaceful elections. He said Pakistan is taking actions to curb terrorism and our security forces are ready to ensure elections in a transparent way.

Answering another question, Murtaza Solangi said the caretaker government took a number of steps to improve economy of the country and signed agreements through Special Investment Facilitation Council. He said the objective of the SIFC is to encourage the investors to invest in the country.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Executive Director-General External Publicity Wing Ambreen Jan, representatives of the Interior Ministry and Election Commission of Pakistan were also present in the press conference.