News
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Fingers crossed as nation votes today* People to elect 268 lawmakers for National Assembly, 570 for provincial assemblies
* 4,671 candidates in the race for NA, 10,958 vying for four provincial constituencies
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: The country is going to elect lawmakers for the next National and provincial assemblies at today’s crucial election amidst security threats and violence that marred the campaign preceding polling in the country.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) made elaborate arrangements for the polling day with extraordinary security arrangements put in place throughout the country.
The polling will be held on 268 of 272 seats of the National Assembly with the election postponed on four seats because of death of candidates.
The election will be held on 570 constituencies for the four provincial assemblies out of total 577 seats.
For the directly elected 270 seats of the National Assembly, 4,671 candidates are in the race, while 10,958 candidates are vying for four provincial constituencies in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Major political parties – the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – are in the field along with the smaller and nationalist parties in different parts of the country.
The main battlefield will be Punjab, where a triangular fight among the PPPP, the PML-N and the PTI will be fought. In central and north Punjab, the fight is expected between the PML-N and the PTI, while in southern parts of the province, the PPPP will lock horns with the PTI.
A total of 86.2 million people – 37.6 million women and 48.6 million men – will exercise their right to vote in the four provinces of the country, the federal capital and the Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA).
The ECP has set up 69,801 polling stations in the country and 193,459 polling booths have been established to facilitate voters to cast their vote. Polling will open at 8am and will continue until 5pm.
The ECP has already declared 30,895 polling stations ‘highly sensitive’ or ‘sensitive’ in various parts of the country, whereas 38,834 polling stations have been declared normal, with no fear of violence of security threats there.
A total of 644,940 staff members will conduct the polling process in the country. They took over the charge of their respective polling stations on Friday, a day before the big day.
The biggest issue overshadowing the electoral process is security concerns, as extremists and terrorists have hit various political parties during their election campaigns and fears mount that they may intensify their onslaught on the polling day.
Around 127 people have already been killed at election campaigns. A majority of them belonged to liberal and progressive political parties of country, including the PPPP, the ANP and the MQM.
In view of these threats, elaborate security arrangements have been put in place, with over 500,000 personnel of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs), including Rangers, police and volunteers, who will be guarding polling stations to prevent any untoward incident. The army will be on standby to aid the civilian LEAs in case of any major threat.
The army troops – with the support of helicopter service – will act as ‘quick response force’ to deal with any eventuality.
As the internationally community keenly watches election in the country, tens of thousands of local and international observers, along with representatives of the candidates and the media, will monitor the polling process in the country.
As Pakistan goes to the polls, the milestone’s significance may be lost on some voters who have lost faith in politics after years of corruption and misrule.
Widespread disenchantment with the two mainstream parties appeared this week to have brought a late surge of support for Imran Khan, who could end up holding the balance of power if there is no clear-cut winner.
If that happens, weeks of haggling to form a coalition will follow and raise the risk of an unstable government in a country ruled by the military for more than half of its history.
That would only make it more difficult to reverse the disgust with politicians felt among the country’s 180 million people and drive through the reforms needed to revive its near-failed economy.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk