Islamabad, Feb 8
Marred by rigging claims and terror attacks on security personnel, people in Pakistan voted in the general polls on Thursday. A total of five people, including policemen, were killed in two separate attacks during the voting in Pakistan.
The terror attack in Dera Ismail Khan, during the polls, claimed the lives of four policemen. While a security officer was killed after gunmen opened fire at soldiers in the Tank area of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.
The polling started at 8 am amid tight security. In the wake of the terror attacks, phone services were suspended. The opposition protested against the suspension. Some politicians said the shutting down of the internet services raised suspicion and “is the beginning of election day rigging”.
The twin terror attacks on Wednesday claimed lives of at least 30 people in Balochistan province.
A vehicle of the security forces was attacked by unknown persons with a rocket in the area of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Due to security reasons, the border crossing with Afghanistan and Iran will also remain closed both for cargo and pedestrians.
The voting is set to conclude at 5 pm and the counting will start soon.
Nearly 6,50,000 security personnel have been deployed across the country after the twin blast incident.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a total of 5,121 candidates are in the race for the National Assembly (NA) seats. A low turnout was recorded in many constituencies during the start of the voting, which improved as the day proceeded.
At polling stations, the staff also complained about a shortage of ballot papers and incorrect papers leading to a long delay in the process. I am standing here with the hope that a new government will control prices and provide essential food items at cheaper rates, said Abdul Wali (45), reported The Associated Press. Wali had arrived at a polling station in the Gulraiz area of Rawalpindi to cast his vote. Violence and scuffle was reported in many constituencies which delayed the voting process. A scuffle has been reported between Sharif-led PML-N and Khan-led Tehreek-e-Insaf party workers in NA-49 Attock, leading to temporary suspension of polling at two stations. With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail, Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is likely to emerge as the new PM. After the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the election commission to deprive his party of its election symbol cricket “bat”, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates were contesting the polls independently. Khan and other prominent political leaders have cast their votes through a postal ballot from Adiala Jail.
Sharif cast his vote in the National Assembly (NA) 128 constituency of the Model Town area of Lahore. While Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari cast his vote in Nau Daero area of Sindh.
A party must win 133 seats out of 265 being contested to form the next government.
Reportedly, the PML-N is likely to win between 115 to 132 National Assembly seats.
A total of 132 seats in the four provinces are reserved for women in four provinces and another 24 for minorities. In the 2018 elections, overall voter turnout across the nation was 51.7 per cent.
