Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja Tuesday while presiding over a meeting of higher officials said that the appointment of neutral officers during the elections is very necessary, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Sikandar Sultan Raja said that administrative officers in the provinces should be appointed neutrally and strict action should be taken against Returning Officers (RO) and District Returning Officer (DRO) if they are associated to any political party. He said that the Election Commission is in contact with the interior and defense ministries for the appointment of Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps and ordered Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for further working to be done regarding their appointments.

Inspector General (IG) KPK briefed Sultan Raja that the province is facing a deficit of 57000 workers for the elections and the services of KPK Police and Gilgit Baltistan Police can make up the shortfall but the help of Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps will be required.

IG KPK said that 494 attacks in last year 2022 and 46 attacks as of yet in 2023 have been carried out on the Police and 119 workers in 2022 whereas 93 workers of the Police have been martyred. He alarmed that terrorism activities during the elections cannot be rejected and it cannot be claimed that the general elections will be completely peaceful.

Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and IG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with Election Commission and Senator Officers of Election Commission participated in the meeting.