Polling for national, provincial assemblies to take place tomorrow

Polling for general elections 2024 to elect new National Assembly and four provincial assemblies will be held tomorrow (Thursday) with PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif leading the race, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.    

The election campaign by political parties and independent candidates concluded across the country on Tuesday night with pollsters saying election campaign has left the nation of 240 million at its most "discouraged" in years. 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all arrangements for the voting and started supplying election material to its polling staff with authorities throwing an extra layer of security across the country after a recent surge in terrorist attacks.

As many as 90,675 polling stations have been established across the country with many of them being declared sensitive and most sensitive.

A total of 5,121 candidates are in the run for the National Assembly seats while for the four provincial assemblies, 12,695 candidates are in the field. In total, voters will send only 855 to the assemblies.

There are a total of 128,585,760 registered voters in the country. 

شیر پہ مہر لگاؤ پاکستان کو نواز دو 🐅🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/y2sT2sfqf9

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) February 6, 2024

The Pakistan Army and other law-enforcement agencies held flag marches in different parts of the country.

Soldiers were deputed outside the polling stations to deal with any untoward situation in a timely manner.

Jaded campaign

With former prime minister Imran Khan in jail and his party barred from contesting as a bloc, the field is open for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win the most seats and give a fourth term as premier to its founder, Nawaz Sharif.

"The atmosphere... is of a carnival. The elections are a day after tomorrow, but we are already celebrating," Nawaz Sharif told a rally of around 15,000 in Kasur on Tuesday night.

Candidates loyal to Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) could still prove a decisive factor -- as well as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari -- but a generally lacklustre campaign season, as well as voter apathy, suggest a low turnout on Thursday.

شکریہ پاکستان! میں نے پورے ملک میں اپنی انتخابی مہم چلائی ہے کیونکہ میں آپ پر، پاکستان کے لوگوں پر، اور آپ کے ووٹ کی طاقت پر یقین رکھتا ہوں۔ ہمارے لوگ غربت، بے روزگاری، اور مہنگائی کا سامنا کر رہے ہیں۔ انہیں ایک ایسی حکومت کی ضرورت ہے جو ان کے لیے کام کرے۔ پیپلز پارٹی ان مسائل کو… pic.twitter.com/yWTt5Mqxa7

— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) February 6, 2024

"The political atmosphere ahead of Pakistan's first general election since 2018 is equally as glum as the economic one," the polling agency Gallup said. "Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections. While this ties previous highs, it nevertheless represents a significant regression in recent years."

Candidates had ended all canvassing on Tuesday night before polls open Thursday for more than 120 million registered voters to take part in election.

Looming large over the vote -- despite being barred from taking part -- is former international cricketer Khan, who was handed three lengthy prison sentences last week for treason, graft and a marriage that did not meet Islamic law requirements.

The election comes against the backdrop of an economy in dire straits and a significant rise in militancy.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, said there had been a "staggering" rise in militant attacks in the past year with an average of 54 per month -- the most since 2015, when the army launched a massive crackdown on militant groups.

https://twitter.com/PTIofficial/status/1755005178032308320

Violence and allegations

More than half a million security officers began deploying Wednesday, with authorities distributing ballot papers to more than 90,000 polling stations.

The election has been marred by violence and allegations of pre-poll rigging following a crackdown on the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, winner of the 2018 polls, but booted out of power by a national assembly vote of no-confidence four years later.

There have also been multiple security incidents in the run-in to Thursday's vote, with at least two candidates shot dead and dozens more targeted in attacks across the country.

Campaigning officially ended on Tuesday night and voting is due to begin at 8:00 am local time (0300 GMT) Thursday, closing at 5:00 pm.

In Lahore, a stream of returning officers accompanied by police were seen collecting neon-green sacks of voting materials from a central distribution centre to take to their polling stations.

"The security set up is a lot better because the ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) has installed its app and taken other measures," said Mohammad Baqir, referring to electronic scrutiny of those collecting voting materials.

"The work is going smoothly."

The figures are staggering in a country of 240 million people -- the world's fifth most populous -- with around 128 million eligible to vote.

Nearly 18,000 candidates are standing for seats in the national and four provincial assemblies, with 266 seats directly contested in the former -- an additional 70 reserved for women and minorities -- and 749 places in the regional parliaments.

"We must ensure security measures at every level," Sindh provincial police chief Rafat Mukhtar told a news briefing Wednesday in Karachi.

 - Extra layer of security -

Officials said that nearly half of over 90,000 polling stations had been declared "sensitive" or "highly sensitive" and extra security would be deployed.

"To counter these risks, we have devised a three-tier protection plan. The police constitute the first tier, followed by the civil armed forces, and (then) the armed forces," caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz told a news briefing.

Inflation is galloping at nearly 30 percent, the rupee has been in free fall for three years and a balance of payments deficit has frozen imports, severely hampering industrial growth.

"Pakistanis are more discouraged than they have been in decades about a multitude of economic, political and security challenges that are threatening their country's stability," Gallup said its poll findings revealed.

"Last year, just one in four approved of Pakistan's leadership."

ECP asks media to observe code of conduct for general election

The Election Commission of Pakistan has asked the national media to strictly observe code of conduct for the general elections.

According to code of conduct, reflecting any opinion prejudicial to the ideology, sovereignty, dignity, or security of Pakistan and other national institutions is forbidden.

It also forbids airing or displaying on electronic, digital and social media, any allegations and statements which may harm national solidarity or may create law and order situation during the entire election process.

Furthermore, the media shall not air any unofficial result of a polling station until one hour has passed after the close of voting.

DRO in NA-75 Narowal replaced

Just a day before the general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has changed the district returning officer (DRO) in NA-75, Narowal, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

In a notification issued on Wednesday, the ECP directed the CO Education Authority Yasin Virk to take over as the DRO. 

Before that, Additional District Commissioner General Hafiz Irfan Hameed had been asked to take charge.

Reporters Usman Khan, Amir Shahzad and Yasin Arafat

Input from AFP.