Local polls in 54 districts today: 30.5m voters, 108,273 candidates
By Nasir Iqbal
ISLAMABAD, Aug 24: The second phase of the local body polls will be held on Thursday for 3,016 union councils in 54 districts of the country. According to the original schedule, polling was to be held in 56 districts but the Election Commission has postponed elections in Qila Abdullah at the request of the Balochistan government while all candidates have been returned unopposed in Dera Bugti.
About 30.5 million voters will get an opportunity to choose their local councillors. Controversies, like disfranchising women voters, which mared the first round of elections in several areas continue unabated.
The polling will be held from 8am to 5pm without any break. No mobile phones will be allowed in the polling stations. Already a public holiday has been announced in districts where elections are being held.
A total of 108,273 candidates are in the run — 9,147 for the seats of union council nazims and naib nazims, 3,362 for minorities seats, for peasant and workers (women) seats 9,766, peasant and workers (male) seats 24,073, Muslim women seats 13,581 and Muslim general seats 48,344.
A ban imposed by the acting chief election commissioner (CEC) on federal as well as provincial ministers, ministers of state, advisers, chairmen of standing committees, senators, members of national or provincial assemblies from entering polling stations remains in place.
A total of 3,174 candidates have been elected unopposed for the second phase. Of them, 203 have been elected for the seats of nazims and naib nazims and 688 for minority, 1,272 for peasants/workers (women), 179 for peasants/workers (male), 626 for Muslim (women) and 206 for Muslim (general) seats.
The commission has set up 30,554 polling stations in the four provinces with 97,830 polling booths 16.3 million men and 14.2 million women will exercise their right of franchise.
Districts where elections will be held are:
Punjab — Rawalpindi city district, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Faisalabad city district, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal, Lahore city district, Sheikhupura, Nankana, Kasur and Okara.
Sindh — Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Dadu, Matiari, Jamshoro, Badin, Sukkur, Khairpur, Nawabshah, Larkana, Shahdad Kot and Shikarpur.
