Lacklustre electioneering ends; ECP finalises arrangements for peaceful voting
Pakistan
Electioneering ends as ECP all set to conduct elections on Feb 8
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The lacklustre electioneering for the Feb 8 general elections ended at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday as candidates tried their best to woo the voters.
On the last day of the campaign, PPP Chair¬pe¬rson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held a rally in Larkana — home to his maternal political dynasty — while PML-N patriarch Nawaz Sharif chose Kasur, the constituency of his younger brother Shehbaz, to show his strength in Punjab. He, however, cancelled another rally planned for Lahore.
The PTI, on the other hand, was on the tight rope as its stalwarts Dr Yasmin Rashid, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and Ejaz Chaudhry remained behind bars in various criminal cases. Moreover, there were scant banners of the party candidates displayed across Lahore streets. And last week, last nail was put in the coffin of the PTI by handing down prison terms to its founder in a couple of cases.
ECP CODE OF CONDUCT
Meanwhile, the ECP in a statement, asked candidates and their parties to comply with Section 182 of the Elections Act which reads: “No person is allowed to participate in any public meeting, procession, corner meeting or any such political activity after Tuesday night.”
“Legal action will be taken against any person who violates the above mentioned provision of the law,” added the ECP statement.
It said following the start of the pre-election silence period the election campaigns, advertisements and other written materials on electronic and print media, in support or opposition of a particular political party or candidate were not allowed.”
The law also bars surveys on “possible outcome” on the media till the completion of the election process. However, the ECP allowed the media to broadcast results one hour after the end of the polling, but with a clear indication that “these results are inconclusive and unofficial.”
Returning officers will release progressive results of the polling stations and the complete inconclusive result.
The ECP reminded all political parties and contesting candidates that under Sections 48 and 49 of the Code of Conduct, any campaign within 400 metres of the polling station will be banned on the election day.
Similarly, there will be a complete ban on notices, symbols, banners or flags containing notices, symbols, banners or flags encouraging voters to vote for a particular candidate within 100 metres of polling booths.
“…While political parties, candidates, election agents or their supporters will be able to set up their camps at a distance of 400 metres from the polling station in rural areas and 100 metres away in densely populated urban areas on the polling day,” the statement added.
The ECP said the district returning officers, returning officers, and police administration shall be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the provisions.
MATERIAL DISTRIBUTED
A day ago, the ECP announced that it had completed the task of handing over 260 million ballot papers to the district returning officers (DROs) for the polls.
The spokesperson for the ECP said in a statement that a valid national identity card was required to cast vote. But ballot can be cast if the card is expired by presenting the “original” card before the election official, he added.
The spokesperson attributed the timely completion of the “crucial” responsibility to distribute voting material to the “dedicated efforts and organised planning of the Commission’s staff."
“The dispatching process involved both ground and aerial means, ensuring an efficient and swift distribution of the ballot papers,” he said.
The spokesperson said that all the ballot papers were handed over to the respective DROs and their representatives.
“Despite encountering challenges posed by adverse weather conditions, the ECP staff exhibited resilience and determination, overcoming obstacles to ensure that the task was completed on time,” he added.
He said there were 700,000 ballot boxes for elections across the country. Of them, 552,000 boxes will be used while 150,000 will be kept in reserve. Two ballot boxes will be kept at each polling booth, one for the National Assembly and the other for provincial assembly.
More than 276,000 polling booths will be set up for voting all over country.
FULL DRESS REHEARSAL
Meanwhile, the Punjab police conducted a full dress rehearsal to hold general elections in a peaceful environment. Security, traffic and logistics arrangements in all regions and districts of the province, including Lahore, deployment of police personnel at polling stations and clusters, CCTV cameras’ working were reviewed during the rehearsal.
Flag marches were held in all districts, including Lahore, in which the district police, Dolphin Squad, Rapid Response Unit, Elite Force and Traffic Police units took part.
Police officers reviewed the overall law and order situation across the province.
FAFEN REPORT
The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) released a report on the number of registered voters in national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies. The National Assembly constituency NA-67 Hafizabad has the highest number of 810,723 registered voters, while NA-244 Karachi West 1 has the lowest number of 155,824 voters.
The largest National Assembly constituency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is NA-18 Haripur where the number of registered voters is 724,915. The NA-12 Kohistan has the lowest 196,125 voters.
The constituency NA-209 Sanghar is the largest in terms of voters in Sindh where 607,638 people will vote. The NA-244 Karachi constituency has the least number of 155, 824 voters.
In Balochistan, NA-255 Sohbat Pur-cum-Jaffarabad-cum Usta Muhammad-cum-Nasirabad has the highest number of 532,537 voters, while NA-264 Quetta has the lowest number of 196,752 registered voters.
