PAKISTAN’S army said on Tuesday (10) it will deploy about 371,000 troops to ensure a “fair and free” election on July 25, denying it was rigging the poll to tip the scales in favour of former cricketer Imran Khan.
The run-up to the general election has been marred by accusations that the military is meddling in politics and muzzling the media to help usher Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into power.
Khan, an anti-corruption crusader and conservative on national security, has denied colluding with the military, which has ruled the country for almost half its history.
Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told a news conference that a total of 371,388 troops would be deployed inside and outside polling stations, some three times more than during the last election in 2013.
The election commission had asked the armed forces to help conduct the vote in a “free, fair and transparent manner”, and the army’s role was to assist, he said.
“We need to give them the support they have asked for,” Ghafoor said in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, near Islamabad.
The July election is likely to come down to a contest between Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Khan and his PTI party.
Ghafoor dismissed suspicions that the military was favouring Khan.
