KARACHI/RAWALPINDI/MULTAN: Polling for the third and final phase of local government elections in 12 districts of Punjab and six of Karachi went underway on Saturday amid tight security.
The battle for the Sindh capital will be the one more keenly watched across the country than a contest in any other major city.
Polling began at 7.30am and will continue till 5.30pm.
In the first hour, voting could not be started on time in almost 70 per cent of polling stations in Karachi. Delay in polling was reported in Multan and Jhang.
Almost all the polling stations in the six districts of Karachi have been declared ‘sensitive’ for security reasons, with only 234 of the 4,141 stations categorised as normal.
Editorial: Battleground Karachi
According to an official of the Election Commission, 1,791 polling stations in Karachi are being treated as highly sensitive, and 2,116 as sensitive, for the sake of maintaining law and order.
In the 12 districts of Punjab, 9,970 of the 14,012 polling stations have been declared ‘normal’. The official said 964 polling stations in the province were highly sensitive and 3,078 sensitive in the districts of Layyah, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi, Jhang, Khushab, Multan, Sialkot, Narowal, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur.
The polls in 16 union councils of Rawalpindi have been delayed on court orders.
The Election Commission has established a control room in Islamabad which will work till the finalisation of election results.
Karachi: Winner of over 105 union committees to grab mayor slot
Polling was halted at a polling station in Karachi's Gulistan-i-Jauhar area after a clash broke out between workers of two political parties.
Amid extraordinary security, more than seven million people will cast their votes to elect 5,401 candidates vying for 1,472 seats across the metropolis amid charged atmosphere during the final phase of LG elections in Sindh today.
The districts in Sindh are Karachi West, Karachi East, Karachi South, Karachi Central, Korangi and Malir. The highest number of sensitive polling stations is in Karachi West where only 43 of the 937 have been declared ‘normal’, and among the rest 497 are ‘highly sensitive’ and 396 sensitive. There are 247 union committees and councils in the city with 7,083,066 voters — 4.06 million men and 3.01m women.
The ECP has given special powers to Sindh Rangers and army which will form the second and third tiers of security in sensitive polling areas.
Officers in charge of army and Rangers performing security duties were vested on Friday with the powers of first class magistrate. The paramilitary Rangers will have the authority to enter polling stations and take preventive action, including arrest and detention, whenever required.
The Sindh government has deployed 35,057 policemen to provide security to 4,037 polling stations, 93 per cent of which have been declared sensitive, reported Dawn newspaper.
Some 7,400 Rangers personnel and 10 companies of the army — each comprising 80 soldiers — would be there patrolling the areas to ensure that the city is secure during the mammoth electoral exercise.
Officials in the provincial election commission said originally there were 1,520 constituencies up for grabs in Karachi. Of them, candidates on 48 seats returned unopposed, they added.
Some 7.08 million voters will elect chairmen and vice chairmen for 209 union committees and 38 union councils, which offer seats for 988 general members, 38 district council members and 494 women members for both union committees and union councils.
The party that grabs more than 105 union committees will be able to clinch the mayor slot. The Muttahida Quami Movement has fielded its candidates in 174 UCs only. The Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf alliance fielded candidates in 203 out of the total 209 UCs, while the Pakistan Peoples Party fielded its candidates only in 188 UCs.
There are 12 major political parties and groups — Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Sunni Tehreek, Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Fazl, Jamat-i-Islami, Jamiat-i-Ulema Pakistan-Noorani, Awami National Party, PML-Functional, Mohajir Qaumi Movement, and Qaumi Awami Tehreek — besides a large number of independent candidates contesting the LG elections. The key contenders in this contest are considered to be the MQM, PTI, JI and the PPP.
South and central Punjab
At least 12 people were injured due to firing following a voting dispute between supporters of the PTI and PML-N in UC 94 of Narowal's Shakargarh tehsil.
Polling is being held in seven districts of south Punjab and four districts of central Punjab for the third and final phase of LG elections today.
Like the earlier two phases, people will elect representatives for district council, union council, municipal corporation and municipal committees in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Layyah, Jhang, Khushab, Sialkot, Rawalpindi and Narowal.
Of these districts, Rawalpindi, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot and Dera Ghazi Khan have municipal corporations besides district councils and municipal committees.
In the first two phases, candidates of the ruling PML-N and independents had dominated the polls, followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). The trend is likely to be repeated, except for Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan, where PTI’s (PTI)’s) Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PPP’s Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood and Zulfiqar Khosa have fielded a good number of candidates, reported Dawn newspaper.
