Election Commission orders provinces to beef up security before poll; Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) defends its attacks on politicians; Musharraf barred from contesting elections for life; A fifteen-day targeted operation by the army and Frontier Corps
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    • (APRIL 29- MAY 5)

    According to reports, in the wake of volatile security situation in Pakistan, the Election Commission has ordered the provincial governments to step up security especially for contesting candidates. The commission has expressed serious concerns over the increasing attack on election candidates and campaigns before the upcoming elections on May 11. 1

    In another development, according to reports, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has defended its attacks politicians, claiming that they were targeting liberal political parties for their secular ideology and support for military operations. “The first reason for attacking political parties is their secular doctrine. The second reason is that they were responsible for burning Fata, Swat and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” said TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan in a statement. He claimed that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were responsible for the “displacement of millions of people, the plight of the Pakhtun, for abandoned villages and destroyed mosques,” adding that the TTP would avenge the oppressed. 2

    In other developments, reports noted that former president Pervez Musharraf has been declared ineligible to contest elections for life by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on April 30. The four-member larger bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), headed by the Chief Justice of PHC, also dismissed Musharraf’s appeal against his disqualification from the elections. Earlier in April, Musharraf’s nomination papers were rejected from all the constituencies he had applied for. His nomination papers for Karachi, Islamabad and Chitral were earlier rejected by the returning officers. 3

    Reports noted that Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani has said that a fifteen-day targeted operation by the army and Frontier Corps against the armed militants will commence on May 1 in different parts of the province. The operation will be taken against all proscribed organisations, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Balochistan Republican Army (BRA), the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLA), the United Baloch Army (UBA), the Lashkar-e-Balochistan (LB) and “all those who are involved in subversive activities to sabotage the election process,” Durrani said. The operation will initially take place in nine districts where voters have been or are being threatened by militants. These districts are Turbat, Makran, Gwadar, Punjgor, Kalat, Kharan, Washuk, Awaran and Khuzdar. 4

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