Islamabad/Lahore: Polling is going on for 5 vacant seats of the National Assembly and 16 vacant seats of the Provincial Assembly for the by-elections across the country.
Polling for 5 National Assembly and 16 vacant seats of the Provincial Assembly for the by-elections across the country is going on. The polling will start from 8 am to 5 pm without any break.
The Election Commission has declared 413 as A category, 1507 as B category and 1094 as C category in sensitive polling stations where security will be tightened.
41 lakh 74 thousand 900 ballot pairs were printed for 14 constituencies of Punjab. 7 thousand 822 posters and 1 lakh 4 thousand 500 forms 45 have been printed. Police will take steps to prevent aerial firing around the polling stations. 240 candidates submitted their papers for two national and 12 provincial constituencies of Lahore and Kasur. The papers of 174 candidates were approved.
In the by-election of 14 constituencies of Punjab, 40 lakh 44 thousand 552 voters will exercise their right to vote. Among them are 21 lakh 77 thousand 187 men and 18 lakh 67 thousand 365 women. Competition between 9 candidates including NA 119 Ali Pervez and Shahzad Farooq, PP 147 League candidate Muhammad Riaz in Lahore. And 11 candidates including Muhammad Khan Madani, 14 candidates including Shoaib Siddiqui and Qaiser Shahzad, candidates from PP-149, 22 candidates including Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz, candidate of PP-158 and Monis Elahi of Sunni Unity Council, 22 candidates facing each other, Leader of PP-164. 20 candidates including Rashid Minhas and Muhammad Yusuf of Sunni Ittehad Council are competing.
According to the current code of conduct of the Election Commission, the security personnel will not prevent any voter from entering the polling station and will ensure that no person enters the polling station with weapons.
Observers and media representatives will be allowed to enter the polling station during polling and observe the voting process.
On the other hand, according to the announcement of PTA, mobile phone service will be temporarily suspended in some districts of Punjab and Balochistan during the by-elections to be held on April 21 and 22 in the light of the instructions of the Ministry of Interior. The Election Commission has also established an Election Monitoring and Control Center for the convenience of the people. Apart from Election Commission Secretariat Islamabad, control rooms have been established at provincial, divisional and district levels.
Mobile service will remain closed in Lahore, Kasur, Chakwal, Gujrat, DG Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bhakkar, Wazirabad, Narwal. Pakistan Army and Rangers were also called. The police will be stationed at the polling station while the constituencies will be patrolled by the Army and Rangers.
Apart from this, Punjab Police has completed the security arrangements for the peaceful conduct of the by-elections.
IG Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar reviewed the full dress rehearsal of security, traffic and logistics arrangements in various regions and districts, safe delivery of election materials, deployment of police personnel at polling stations and clusters, monitoring of CCTV cameras. Gaya, added that senior police officers briefed the responsibilities of the personnel posted on polling duty.
Apart from special checkpoints, search and sweep operations were conducted in the respective districts including Lahore, police officers reviewed the overall law and order situation, rehearsals to keep the polling process peaceful.
IG Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar further said that the Punjab Police will ensure law and order along with other institutions on the by-election day, legal action will be taken against the anti-peace elements affecting law and order. TA says the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) will not be available to consumers till Sunday.
