ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government of Pakistan’s Punjab province is set to face the wrath of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for its failure to execute the April 13 directives to immediately withdraw the extraordinary official security cover of 761 policemen provided for the Sharif family at state expense.
According to well-informed sources in the Election Commission, four days after the CEC had ordered the Punjab government to withdraw the additional security, the caretaker administration in Punjab is clearly hesitant to implement the orders and report back to the EC for unknown reasons.
In a sharp contrast to the Punjab government’s reluctance to carry out the orders, the sources pointed out that the caretaker government of Sindh took less than 12 hours to implement the orders of the CEC regarding withdrawal of 20 policemen who had been guarding Syed Qaim Ali Shah being the former chief minister of the province.
The sources said the ECP had directly ordered Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Iqbal to withdraw the enormous security cordon.
The chief secretary instantly passed on the EC directives to the newly appointed Inspector General of the Punjab Police Aftab Sultan. However, as things stand, the IG Punjab is dilly dallying on the orders of the Election Commission.
A senior official of the Punjab Police said on the condition of anonymity that the IGP wanted to withdraw 700 out of the 761 policemen but he added that the highest government figure in the caretaker set-up of Punjab asked him to adopt a wait and see policy for the time being, mainly because of the serious security concerns expressed by the Sharif family.
Approached for comments, a Punjab government spokesman said that 30 percent of policemen from four different sections of the police who were guarding the Sharifs and their family members have already been withdrawn by IG Punjab in accordance with the direction of the Election Commission.
Asked as to why the Election Commission’s orders were not being implemented in letter and spirit since Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif were entitled to only 20 policemen being a former PM and a former CM, the government spokesman said, “Our prime concern is the safety and security of the twice elected former prime minister and the chief minister.”
Internews
