ISLAMABAD: The polling process in the by-elections on eight national and three provincial assembly seats in Pakistan ended at 5pm on Sunday, as different political parties complained of sporadic violence in different parts of the country during the electoral contest.
The by-polls began in various constituencies of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces earlier in the day, though the government had requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delay the exercise for a few months since it had deployed most of its resources in flood-affected areas.
The ECP, however, turned down the proposal while asking relevant officials to provide adequate security for peaceful electoral process.
As voting started at 8am, the former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party complained of violence against its leaders and workers who, it added, were targeted by its rival factions in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“[Pakistan Peoples Party] goons attacked Karachi [PTI] President [and member of provincial assembly] @BilalAGhaffar,” said a senior PTI leader Ali Haider Zaidi in a Twitter post.
He later said the attack was orchestrated by provincial PPP lawmakers Saleem Baloch and Salman Murad.
Meanwhile, a PPP lawmaker Sharjeel Inam Memon accused PTI's provincial and national lawmakers of “visiting every polling station and threatening presiding officers” while sharing a video of a PTI activist “along with criminals and weapons” on the social media platform.
Meanwhile, local media also shared footage of PTI workers arguing with members of the Awami National Party (ANP) in a polling station in Peshawar.
Earlier in the day, the ECP had warned political stakeholders against interfering with the process while instructing its staff members to arrest such individuals.
“Anyone participating in riots or interfering with the polling process should immediately be arrested,” the chief election commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raja, said while issuing instructions to his team across the country.
“If any government employee is found involved in rigging, immediate action should be taken to arrest him and the case should be referred to the election commission for immediate disciplinary action,” he continued.
The National Assembly seats were vacated after the resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislators were accepted on nine general seats and two reserved seats for women.
In an unprecedented move, the country’s former prime minister Khan decided to contest on seven of these seats while describing the by-elections as “a referendum” on his popularity.
The chief election commissioner, who said he was personally supervising the by-elections, instructed his team to ensure peaceful polling process.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif encouraged people to go out and elect their representatives in a message on Twitter.
“This is a constitutional and legal process and only the people have the right to choose who they want,” he continued. “Voters should make a thoughtful decision because the development of their country and their own prosperity depends on it.”
