Top Political leadership’s security in Punjab upgarded at par with PM : Shoukat Javed

LAHORE: Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed Tuesday disclosed
that Punjab government in the wake of suicide attacks at KPA and Quetta
has taken foolproof stringent measures on war footings to upgrade security
protocol of all top political leaderships including Imran Khan, Bilawal
Bhutto and Shahbaz Sharif at par with Prime Minister during election
campaigns in the province.
Talking to media here today at his office, Shaukat Javed ensured that the
electoral candidates and leadership of entire political parties will be
provided proper security cover during their electioneering. He made it
crystal clear that there is no compromise on law and order and security of
the political leadership. He is of the opinion that it is the
responsibility of the Punjab government to not only arrange for fair, free
and impartial elections but also to provide security to all participating
in the upcoming polls.
The Home Minister Punjab said that foolproof security will be exclusively
provided to those candidates or political leaders of major political
parties; having serious life threats. He further that it is the
responsibility of the interim provincial government to offer the voters
with a peaceful, conducive and favorable environment on the polling day. He said that it will be ensured that both their lives and property be
protected by all means and at every cost.
Answering a question, he said the Punjab government July 13 security plan
was made on merit to avoid any untoward incident in Lahore on the eve of
Mian Nawaz Sharif arrival at airport and criticism from different corners
of the society against Punjab government is clubbed with vested interest
and unwarranted as well as unjust. “Our prime responsibility is to
protect the lives and properties of the common people and we were succeeded to do this by the Grace of God,” he added.
He said about 143 PML-N workers were detained lawfully by the competent
authority on July 13 and all of them were released immediately as soon as
Mian Nawaz Sharif was taken to Islamabad. He said that the caretaker
government had no plan to detain any political worker unlawfully, adding
that action would only be taken against those who would violate rules and
laws.
Shaukat Javed said it is wrong notion that the interim government is
targeting one or another specific political party. He said we are not
victimizing any one as our prime responsibility is to conduct fair and
transparent elections giving level playing field to all candidates without
any discrimination.
He said our all activities are neutral and impartial in regard of
conducting elections. However, he said our government will utilize all
available resources to implement Election Commission’s Code of Conduct with its true letter and spirit and anyone involved in violation of code of conduct will be strictly handled. He said the interim government has taken legal actions against as many as 52 PTI candidates for violating election’s code of conduct whereas 48 candidates hailing from PML-N were charged with violation of code of conduct while 3 from PPP and 73 from other political parties were booked in this regard.
He said divisional and district administration and police are directed to
take immediate step against the violation of the code of conduct.
“Everybody should discharge their duties with honesty and dedication. We
will be able to discharge our national duty in an effective manner, if we
work with honesty and dedication. The interim government is taking all
possible measures with consultation,” he added.
He said good quality CCTV cameras should be used in a professional manner
and directed that there should be no complaint regarding any
malfunctioning. He said the security plan for rallies and public gatherings should be strictly implemented.He said the system of intelligence-sharing should be made more effective, and political parties should avoid confrontation and clashes, and keep the general environment peaceful.