Battle lines drawn as electioneering comes to an end

ISLAMABAD: Amidst the heavy odds clouding the country’s politico-economic landscape, the nation is all set to go to the polls on Thursday, with wild guesses about the future premier dominating discussions at the political gatherings in every nook and corner of the country.

Over 137,000 law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) have been deployed in the country to ensure peaceful elections countrywide.

The political campaign came to a halt countrywide as the clock struck 12.

Talking to a delegation of the Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) here on Tuesday, Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said despite numerous challenges, best possible arrangements had been made to ensure peaceful elections on February 8.

Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan led the delegation, reports Geo News.

The meeting was part of the COG’s interaction with various stakeholders ahead of the upcoming Pakistan election, read a statement issued by the PM Office.

Kakar said Pakistan was proud to honour its commitment as a commonwealth member state by inviting independent international observers to witness the general elections.

He also highlighted that the caretaker government had fulfilled its responsibilities to run the day-to-day affairs of the state and create a conducive environment ahead of the elections.

“Now it is the turn of the people of Pakistan to exercise their democratic right to vote,” he added. Jonathan thanked the caretaker prime minister and conveyed the best wishes of the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland.

He said the COG delegation would be visiting various polling sites throughout the country to observe the election process.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference here, Caretaker Interior Minister Dr Gohar Ejaz said the government was sparing no effort to hold peaceful elections without any loss of lives.

The interior minister said the government will provide a three-layer security.

He said the government would consider suspending the internet services on February 8 only if it got a request from a district or province in view of the security situation.

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi accompanied him.

“So far, there has been no decision made regarding the suspension of internet services at any place,” said the minister.

A day earlier, Solangi turned down the possibility of internet shutdown on February 8, saying the local administrations had the authority to decide on internet shutdown in light of the law and order situation; however, he stressed that no such situation had been reported so far. On Sunday, Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai announced that the internet service will remain temporarily restricted at the sensitive polling booths in the province on the Election Day.

“The election atmosphere in Sindh is full of excitement and it does not seem that any political party has enmity with another,” said Ejaz, adding that he did not see any tension among the candidates in Balochistan during his visit. “We do not want to take the law into our hands in Sindh, “The parties contesting the polls in Sindh have known each other for years.”

“Commandos will be deployed in Balochistan to respond in the shortest possible time,” he said.

“Police, civil armed forces and army will give you protection. We will not let anyone raise an eyebrow at the integrity and independence of Pakistan,” he said.

Ejaz said there were 90,777 polling stations across the country of which over 40,000 had been declared normal.

A total of 20,985 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 16,766 most sensitive.

In a bid to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections, troops have left for the election duty in various districts across the country.

The purpose of army deployment is to support the civil government during the general elections and ensure transparency in the electoral process.

Military personnel will be deployed outside the polling stations on the third tier for security so that any emergency situation can be dealt with in a timely manner.

The police will provide first-tier security while civil armed forces will provide second-tier security during polling.

At least seven to eight law enforcement officials will be posted at each polling station across the country, he said.

“Pakistan Army troops will be deployed as a quick reaction force (QRF),” said Ejaz.

The minister further said that the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should come out and vote on February 8.

In a related development, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday notified all political parties and contesting candidates that any campaign within 400 meters of a polling station will be banned on the polling day under Sections 48 and 49 of the Code of Conduct.

The Commission explained that persuading voters to vote, pleading with a voter to vote or not and campaigning for a particular candidate will be banned.

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 meters or discouraging them not to vote for him.

“…While political parties, candidates, election agents or their supporters will be able to set up their camps at a distance of 400 meters from the polling station in rural areas and 100 meters away in densely populated urban areas on the polling day,” the Commission said.

The Commission’s spokesman said the district returning officers, returning officers and police administration shall be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the above provisions and their violation will be considered an illegal act for which a strict action will be taken in accordance with the law.

Likewise, it has been made clear to all the candidates and political parties that according to Section 182 of the Elections Act 2017, no person shall participate in any public meeting, procession, corner meeting or such political activity after 12 o’clock on the night of February 6.

“Legal action will be taken against any person who violates the above-mentioned provision of the law. After the above mentioned time, election campaigns, advertisements and other written materials are banned from electronic and print media, which is suspected to support or oppose a particular political party or candidate,” the Commission said.

Apart from this, it explained that all types of poll surveys will also be banned on the media till the election process was conducted.

The media can start broadcasting the polling results one hour after the end of the polling, in which it will be clearly stated that these results are inconclusive and unofficial.

Moreover, the returning officers will release the progressive result of polling stations and complete inconclusive result.

Likewise, the electronic and print media will strictly follow the code of conduct and instructions have been issued to the Pemra and PTA to take legal action for violation.

Meanwhile, an eight-member Election Observer Group of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, which is on a visit to Pakistan to witness the general elections, led by the Chamber’s Chairman and Leader of the Delegation Andrei Maximox, visited the Election Commission of Pakistan Tuesday and called on the Commission’s Secretary Dr. Syed Asif Hussain.

Secretary Election Commission welcomed the Russian delegation on their arrival in Pakistan and briefed them about the preparations and arrangements made in this regard.

The chairman of the delegation appreciated the arrangements and wished for the successful conduct of the general elections.

The delegation members also visited the Election City set up at the Election Commission Secretariat and the Election Monitoring Control Center of the Commission, where they were briefed by the Commission officials.