By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Balloting concluded in 20 provincial Punjab assembly seats after a tense but largely peaceful day at polling, although a few isolated and seemingly spontaneous incidents of violence were reported from some constituencies.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says it received a total of 13 complaints from various areas by the afternoon, almost all pertaining to violence among voters, all of which were immediately resolved.
The closing time for polling has been set at 5:00 pm.
The electoral battle is being seen as a key test of the popularity for the ruling Pakistan Democratic Front (PDM) coalition and its main rival, former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
No major instances of rigging surfaced in any constituency until the closing of polling booths although some minor or failed attempts at rigging were reported.
Khan however alleged that ballots had been rigged.
“Today Punjab govt (government) has brazenly violated SC orders & election rules by openly using all govt/State machinery to rig Punjab elections through illegal ballot stamping & harassing voters while arresting PTI ldrs (leaders). Through it all ECP turned a blind eye. Courts must open now & act,” Khan said on his Tweeter handle.
But earlier he was “pleased to see his voters coming out to cast their votes in large numbers and resisting all pressures and harassment”.
“I want all those, esp (especially) our women, who have to still come out to cast their vote to do so as this is an election for Pakistan’s sovereignty & Haqeeqi Azadi.” Khan said.
Prime Minister Sharif reacted on Khan’s rigging allegations.
“Every speech Imran Niazi delivers shows how unfit he is to hold public office. Under his direct supervision, the PTI has run a sordid campaign to defame national institutions & thus undermine Pakistan. He is rewriting Machiavellian principles of politics in his lust for power,” PM Sharif tweeted.
Meanwhile, a senior leader of PTI Shahbaz Gill was arrested from Muzaffargarh for allegedly carrying and displaying weapons on his visit to a polling station
Police said Gill was taken into custody from a factory owned by a PTI candidate along with his guards.
The by-election is largely a two-way contest being between the PML-N and the PTI, the two rival parties chasing the score of 9 and 13 respectively to have a decisive edge in Punjab Assembly.
On the ground, PDM’s campaign was spearheaded by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz, while Khan led from the front to motivate party cadres.
The stalwarts of the rival parties, using social media forums, were seen urging voters early this morning to come out of their homes and cast their vote but as the time passed by the media started reporting usual cases of rigging.
The cases reported so far include voter’s name struck off from the voters list, a person casting multiple votes, buying and selling of votes and obstructing the voting process, in some cases seemingly with the connivance of the ROs and Police.
At some polling stations in Multan female voters complained of being urged on by the female polling staff to prefer a particular party candidate.
Incidents of violence were reported from PP-168, 158, 125, 272 and 97 and the police were seen handling the situation efficiently.
Voting began on time in by-elections on 20 seats that fell vacant after a court de-seated as many PTI members for defection.
Over 60 percent of country’s population keeping power in the bellwether province would give the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif party a much-needed boost in its bid for upcoming nationwide parliamentary polls due by 2023.
The ruling PML-N, which has a strong presence in the province, took a lead in all previous by-elections held in Punjab between 2018 and 2021, despite the PTI being in power then in Islamabad.
This time, however, the voters, who are charged up by the ousted Khan’s foreign conspiracy narrative, could give a tough competition to Sharifs’ in their urban constituencies.
Khan took a veiled dig at the powerful army in recent months for allegedly siding the current coalition government, saying he had warned the neutrals that if the ‘conspiracy of his ouster succeeded’, the country’s fragile economic recovery would go into a tailspin.
Khan has been using the word neutral to target the Army after military spokesman announced in March that the armed forces would stay neutral in the political crisis. The state institutions like the judiciary and the military have been severely criticised since the Imran Khan-led government was ousted.
Criticism is growing against the coalition government of Sharif as he has so far failed to do anything to address the key economic problems. Sharif has accused his predecessor Khan of planning to trigger a civil war in the country and warned of legal action for concocting a narrative against the country’s national institutions.
Army carried out reconnaissance in Lahore, the provincial capital, ahead of the by-elections, the first major political battle between Khan’s PTI and Sharifs’ PMLN since the former premier was ousted from power in April.
The 20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on May 23 de-seated 25 PTI dissident lawmakers, including five lawmakers elected on reserved seats for women and minorities, for voting in favor of PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz, the son of PM Sharif, to become chief minister Punjab. Hamza Shehbaz elected provincial chief in a razor-thin majority.
Analysts say a majority of the 20 defecting PTI lawmakers have hitched their wagons to the PML-N in today’s tussle between the two arch-rival parties, both having around the same number of seats in the Punjab Assembly.
However, if either of the parties takes a major lead in the by-polls, it can form the next government easily as the elections for the chief minister are also slated for July 22.
As per rules, a party or coalition needs a minimum of 186 out of the 371 seats in the assembly to elect a chief minister of its choice.
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