Voting began at 8 am on Thursday for the general elections in Pakistan in which former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is hoping for a fourth term with the support of the army. Voting started in the morning and will continue till 5 pm.
Shortly after voting began, mobile services were suspended across the country given the ‘deteriorating security situation’. At the same time, there is also news of the death of four policemen posted on election duty and the injury of six others in a terrorist attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At least 30 people were killed in two blasts in the restive Balochistan province on Wednesday, just a day before the elections. Were. Due to security reasons, the border with Afghanistan and Iran was closed on Thursday.
A total of 12,85,85,760 voters across the country will be able to exercise their franchise in these elections. Given the voting, today has been declared a public holiday in the country. The counting of votes will start immediately after the completion of voting. Around 6,50,000 security personnel have been deployed for the general elections.
A Home Ministry spokesperson told Geo News that due to the loss of lives in recent terrorist attacks, “we have decided to shut down mobile services on the day of voting.” There are also reports that some areas, including Karachi and Peshawar, Phone services in cities have also been affected.
Independent candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, reacting to the suspension of mobile phone services, said shutting down mobile networks on polling day is “the beginning of election day rigging.”
- He wrote on ‘X’ that it is not acceptable for a candidate to cut off contact with his agents and personnel on the day of voting.
- Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said that the elections will be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.
- In response to a question, he said that he has seen the news of mobile service being shut down on TV, such decisions are taken by the Home Ministry.
- He said, “We will not interfere. Security is not the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan.”
- He said that ECP will not ask the ministry to restart services.
CEC Raja said, “If we ask them to start mobile service and there is a terrorist attack, then who will be responsible?” According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 5,121 candidates are in the fray for the National Assembly, including These include 4,807 males, 312 females and two transgenders.
There are 12,695 candidates in the fray for the four provincial assemblies, including 12,123 men, 570 women and two transgenders. Most constituencies witnessed low voter turnout since the start of voting.
At several places, some voters were seen waiting outside the polling stations where the doors of the polling stations were not opened as polling staff were not on duty. At several polling stations, staff also complained of a shortage of ballot papers and incorrect documents due to which polling was halted. There was considerable delay in the process.
Due to cold weather and rain in some parts of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, people remained absent from the polling stations. Due to Imran Khan being in jail, former Prime Minister Sharif’s party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is the largest in the elections. Can emerge as a party.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates are contesting the elections as independents after the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission’s decision to deprive his party of its election symbol cricket ‘bat’. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Imran Khan in a pre-recorded message urged the public to exercise their voting rights.
“Ensure that everyone comes out of their homes and votes in large numbers tomorrow,” he said in a video released on ‘X.’ Voted through postal ballot from jail. Whereas former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervez Ilahi, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid, and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary sent their votes by post.
Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi could not take part in the voting.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif casts his vote at polling station number 82 in Lahore’s NA-128 constituency. Meanwhile, in Dera Ismail Khan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, unidentified gunmen started firing after attacking policemen on election duty with bombs. Four policemen were killed and six others were injured in this attack.