Karachi by-polls see low turnout, mostly peaceful voting

Provincial Election Commissioner, Sindh, Ejaz Anwar Chauhan on Sunday said that voting took place for the local government by-elections at all the polling stations in Karachi in a peaceful manner.

Chauhan said this talking to the media during his visits to a number of localities in the city to oversee the polling process for the LG by-polls. He said that only one or two untoward incidents occurred in the city during the polling process, adding that due action will be taken against those involved in violating the code of conduct for the elections.

He also said voter turnout remained low in the morning, adding that they went to the polling stations later in the afternoon. He further said that the best possible arrangements had been made at the polling stations established in District West, with all the basic facilities available there.

Chauhan said that during the polling, he asked the Sindh police chief to increase the deployment of police officials for maintaining security at the polling stations in the city. He informed the media that 7,000 policemen were already deployed to maintain security during the by-polls in Karachi. He said that the number of policemen performing election-related duties in the city had later been increased to 8,000.

The provincial election commissioner said he had received reports that polling had commenced on time at various polling stations in the city. He also visited the UC-6 North Nazimabad area and reviewed the arrangements for the by-polls.

Law and order

Officials said that as per the security plan, a heavy deployment of 2,750 police personnel was made at the 302 polling stations in Karachi.

In addition to that, 271 police personnel were deployed at the Election Commission of Pakistan’s offices. In all, 6,707 police personnel were on election duty across the city. A total of 168 polling stations had been declared most sensitive and 134 sensitive from the security point of view.

Among the few untoward incidents that took place was a tense situation that occurred during the last moments of the polling when activists of rival political parties came face to face with each other at the polling station No. 18 of UC-2 in District West.

The violent activists of the rival parties pelted each other with stones. Certain violent activists forcibly entered the polling station and shouted slogans inside. During the mayhem, a pistol was recovered from a political activist.

Officials of law enforcement agencies, however, rushed to the troubled spot to control the situation. Reports said that an armed person belonging to a political party was arrested from inside a polling station of UC-13 North Nazimabad. Later, an SHO was deployed to maintain security at the polling station.

A troubling situation was also witnessed at the polling station No. 33 of UC-13 New Karachi as soon as the polling process began. Rival activists of different contesting political parties came face to face with each other and shouted slogans.

A clash erupted between activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) at the polling station No. 4 in North Nazimabad after the time for voting ended. Police, however, took action to control the situation.

A clash also took place in Orangi Town Sector 11 outside the Prince Grammar School in District West UC-2 polling station No. 29 where workers of two political parties had a fight.

Responding to the clash, a heavy contingent of police reached the polling station and controlled the situation. The polling process was stopped only for five to 10 minutes, and resumed under tight security. Officials said that no severe injury was reported in the clash.

Another clash was reported between two parties in the Azeempura area of Shah Faisal Colony where enraged workers of a political party claimed that their fellow activist had been abducted by the rival party. Police arrived at the scene and controlled the situation. The clash did not result in any interruption in the polling process.

Senior police officials also visited most sensitive polling stations and reviewed the security situation there. In District City of the Karachi police that comprises Lyari and Old City areas, SSP Arif Aziz visited various polling stations.

He said that 18 polling stations had been set up in nine buildings in District City, and an SHO had been deployed at each of the nine buildings. He added that 13 police personnel were performing security duties at each polling station.

Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon congratulated the police force for the peaceful local bodies by-elections across Sindh. He also lauded the overall performance of the Rangers and other law enforcement agencies in this regard.

Voters’ choices

A relatively low turnout was observed in the LG by-polls in the city’s 11 union committees. The youth, however, seemed to be supporting the JI and the PPP in Orangi Town.

Several clashes were reported between workers of the PPP, the JI and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. In Orangi Town, where voters largely give a lukewarm response to polls, a significant majority of the youth stepped out of their homes to cast their ballots.

Orangi Town resident Muhammad Danish missed his extra class to vote in the by-polls. He said that classes will keep happening, but elections come once in a while. Therefore, he did not want to miss the opportunity to vote for his candidate. He also said that it is time now that the city gets a mayor who can truly work for its people.

Danish was not the only one. His cousins, friends and other young people of Orangi Town headed to the polling stations in large numbers to cast their ballots. Most of them said they will vote for the JI because they do not think any other party can deliver in their

locality.

Shahid Akhtar said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is not contesting the elections from their UC. “We don’t want to vote for the PPP. The only option we’re left with is the JI.” He added that the JI has conducted a good election campaign in the area. “We’ll hold them accountable if they win but fail to deliver.”

While the young lot supported the JI, there were a few who said they were going to vote for the PPP because the party had been performing better in the area lately. Muhammad Abbas said that he and his entire family would vote for the PPP because the party had laid a road network in the area.

“The PPP is governing in the province. They have the funds. They can deliver in the city as well,” he stressed, pointing out that if the PPP gets its mayor and he fails to deliver, another party would take its place in the city.