Beleaguered Country Set For Historic Elections
NISAR AHMED THOKAR
Islamabad, May 10: On the threshold of change, Pakistan is all set to go for polls Saturday wherein more than 86 million voters would be exercising their franchise to choose the country’s new government for next five years.
The elections to National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies would be held simultaneously. The National Assembly of Pakistan comprises of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected whereas 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities.
More than four thousand candidates are contesting elections for National Assembly seats and nearly 11 thousand candidates are running for four Provincial Assemblies- Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan - and FATA (Federally administered tribal areas).
As per the schedule, polling will commence at 8:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. The voters are bound to show their National Identity Cards before casting their votes. The counting of votes will commence immediately after the close of polling. Votes will be counted at the polling stations by the Presiding Officers in presence of the candidates, their election agents and polling agents.
This is for the first time in the electoral history of the country that Election Commission of Pakistan has introduced E-Ticket service to facilitate the voters. By using SMS service, registered voters can inquire about the details of their constituency and polling stations.
In the electioneering, Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf have emerged as major contenders. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) failed to show its power during the campaigning.
PML-N president Nawaz Sharif is largely being perceived as favorite candidate to become next Prime Minister of the country. However, no party seems to be in a position to get the majority needed to form the government. Constitutionally, the party gaining 172 National Assembly seats has right to form government in the Center and within a period of 21 days after the general elections, the President is constitutionally bound to summon the National Assembly session wherein the elected representatives would elect the Leader of the House.
Despite the militant threats looming large in many parts of the country, almost all the political and religious parties have expressed their full faith in the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The electoral exercise is taking place at a time when country is facing dire challenges. The interim government in consultation with military authorities has given final touches to what is termed as a well integrated security plan to hold free, fair and transparent polls. Beefing up the security, thousands of police and paramilitary troops have been deployed to guard polling stations, whereas in the wake of threats more than 70,000 army soldiers have been put on standby to deal with any emergency situation.
Over the past two months, the country witnessed some horrifying scenes of deadly violence in which dozens of innocent civilians lost their precious lives and many aspiring candidates belonging to different political parties were gunned down during the election campaign particularly in Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. There are reports that the banned militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban has claimed to dispatch suicide bombers to carry out widespread attacks on the election day.
There are apprehensions that the militant threats could adversely affect the overall voter turnout. Under the given circumstances, it remains a Herculean task for police and other law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order in the county.
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