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Questions raised as MNA Nawaz chairs Punjab govt meetings
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PTI plans long march, sit-in against ‘rigging’ after Eid
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11 file papers for Nawabshah seat vacated by Zardari
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For more on our elections coverage, go here
Questions raised as MNA Nawaz chairs Punjab govt meetings
PTI plans long march, sit-in against ‘rigging’ after Eid
11 file papers for Nawabshah seat vacated by Zardari
For more on our elections coverage, go here
Sindh police have prepared a contingency plan for the forthcoming general election on Feb 8 under which 143,156 police personnel and volunteers would be deployed for the security of all polling stations, buildings, polling material etc. across the province.
According to a report submitted to the IGP Sindh Riffat Mukhtar Raja, there are a total of 14,052 polling buildings and 19,008 polling stations categorised as the most sensitive, sensitive and normal.
The report said there were a total of 6,801 most sensitive, 6,550 sensitive and 5,657 normal polling stations.
Out of a total of 143,156 policemen/volunteers, 95,400 would be deployed for security of polling stations, 10,648 personnel would be part of the “quick response force” while 37,108 would be volunteers/private security guards who would perform security duty.
Pakistan goes to the polls on Thursday in a widely watched national election that will lead to the formation of a new government to lead the crisis-ridden country for the next five years.
Here are some facts about how the electoral system works in Pakistan:
Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy and voting will take place for seats in the federal legislature, called the National Assembly, and four provincial legislatures.
Tuesday night marks the end of election campaigns nationwide, providing voters with the opportunity to thoroughly contemplate their choices before voting for their favored candidates in both the national and provincial assemblies, APP reports.
According to election regulations, campaigning will cease precisely at midnight on the night between February 6 and 7.
The ECP cautions that candidates engaging in political activities after the deadline will face legal consequences. Additionally, the ECP appeals to the media and the public to collaborate for a free, fair, and transparent election process.
In the upcoming general elections, 275 women from various political parties will be contesting the general seats, Associated Press of Pakistan reports.
According to Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), 111 political parties have nominated 275 women candidates to contest the upcoming elections on general seats, making up for 4.6 per cent of the total of 6,037 candidates they have fielded.
Fafen’s analysis is based on the List of Contesting Candidates (Form-33) for National and Provincial Assemblies.
It states that out of 111 political parties, 30 parties have fielded five or more than 5pc women on general seats, while four political parties have fielded between 4.5pc and 4.9pc of women candidates on general seats (that is statistically rounded up to 5pc), and the remaining 77 have fielded up to 4.5pc women candidates on general seats.
Nawaz Sharif has asserted that the PML-N is committed to steering the country back on course, while opposing any return of what he termed as “fraudsters” to power.
“No one received houses or employment as promised by the previous rulers and instead, the country incurred significant financial losses during their tenure,” Nawaz said in an apparent reference to the PTI that governed from mid-2018 to April 2022.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said the dawn of February 9 will herald a message of “prosperity” for Pakistan.
Speaking at a rally in Kasur, the PML-N leader pledged that development projects would be initiated if the party was voted to power.
PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif said that if his government had not been overthrown in 2017, all the citizens in the country would have been provided employment opportunities.
Speaking at a rally in Kasur, Nawaz expressed his vision for Pakistan to reclaim its status as an “Asian Tiger,” adding that the youth would help achieve this goal.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited party candidate Syed Zulfikar Ali Shah in the hospital after he sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on his vehicle in Mirpurkhas, the party said on X.
Bilawal condemned the attack on Shah, who is contesting from PS-47, and demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators. He also wished Shah a speedy recovery.
The PPP has alleged that PML-N leader Atta Tarar was “purchasing votes” in the PP-151 (Lahore) constituency at centres established “in the houses of PML-N goons”.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif has said that the majority of the country’s development projects were undertaken by party supremo Nawaz Sharif, showcasing his commitment to public service.
PML-N President and former premier Shehbaz Sharif has urged supporters to choose growth by voting for his party on February 8.
At a rally in Kasur, he said that if elected for the fourth time, PML-N supremo and elder brother Nawaz Sharif would increase employment and kick out inflation from the country.
“There will be laptops in the hands of every person,” Shehbaz vowed.
The PML-N senior vice president has called on PTI supporters to bury the politics of hate.
“Today I want to say that I am ready to forget all the oppression against us,” Maryam said. “I promise today and invite everyone to put an end to all this once and for all,” she said at a rally in Kasur.
“I want a Pakistan where the government concentrates on serving people instead of avenging the past,” she said.
The Awami National Party (ANP) has suspended the basic membership of several individuals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for violating the party discipline.
According to a statement, the affected members had supported candidates other than those officially endorsed by the party for the general elections.
The termination of their memberships was approved by Chairman of the Provincial Election Commission, Shakeel Bashir Khan Umarzai, in consultation with the ANP’s district officials.
Khanewal’s Abdul Hakim police have registered a case under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and sections 395, 353, 186, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Anas Rizwi and his 15 accomplices on the charge of attacking two motorway M-4 personnel near Abdul Hakim interchange.
Complainant M-4 police Sub Inspector Iftikhar Hussain alleged that suspect Anas Rizvi was travelling to Bahawalpur, when his car reached near Abdul Hakim interchange, he violated road diversion which was made due to heavy fog.
When the complainant stopped his car, Rizvi called his supporters. In the meantime, his 15 men reached there by two vehicles and they attacked and tortured him as a result bleeding started from one of his eyes while they also snatched the camera from another SI Asad Ali and fled towards Khanewal.
Read the full story here.
Rawalpindi police have finalised all the arrangements for the upcoming general elections, APP reports.
According to Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Syed Khurram Ali, over 12,500 police personnel and more than 4,000 officials of other law enforcement agencies would perform the election duties.
He said 5,490 polling stations have been established in 13 constituencies of the National Assembly and 26 constituencies of the Provincial Assembly across the region.
RPO Ali further said that control rooms had also been set up in all districts while a central control room had been set up in the regional office.
PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that Pakistan’s politics begin and end with party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
Addressing a rally in Kasur, she said Nawaz’s rivals only talked about him as they didn’t have anything else to say.
“My political birth took place at a time when daughters were nabbed in front of their fathers,” she said. “Political foes assassinated my character too,” she said.
Former federal minister Salim Saifullah Khan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s son Maulana Asjad Mehmood and PTI’s central vice-president Sher Afzal Marwat are making their last-ditch efforts to muster public support for winning the sole National Assembly seat in Lakki Marwat during the upcoming elections.
They have emerged as strong candidates out of 39 hopefuls for NA-41.
Salim Saifullah is backed by Marwat Qaumi Ittehad (MQI), an electoral alliance formed by his family with the support of other political parties and tribal chiefs to give a tough time to JUI-F candidates.
Mufti Abdul Ghani, a prominent religious scholar and a close aide of JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, is also supporting Salim Saifullah.
Read more here.
PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif has claimed that recent surveys indicate that her party has left all the others behind in the run-up to the general elections.
Addressing a party rally in Kasur, she thanked the people for never letting any other political party make inroads in the district.
“Nawaz Sharif has conducted the last rally in Kasur,” Maryam said, thanking the people for not letting him down.
Voters with an expired national identity card can cast their votes in the upcoming general elections on February 8, APP reports.
Spokesman of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) KP, Sohail Ahmad told APP that all voters whose identity cards have expired are eligible for casting votes.
However, all voters must take their original identity card to the polling station, otherwise they will not be allowed to exercise their right of franchise, he said.
He said the ECP took this decision to allow the participation of hundreds of thousands of voters in elections.
A large number of people were approaching and asking about their eligibility due to the expiry of the identity cards, he added.
A Gallup survey shows that seven in 10 Pakistanis “lack confidence in the honesty of their elections”.
Moreover, an unprecedented 70 per cent said that they think the economic conditions in the country were getting worse.
The survey notes that a clear majority of Pakistanis (88pc) believed corruption within the government is widespread, on par with the figure from 2022 (86p), which was a record high for the country.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has said that despite numerous challenges, the best possible arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful and seamless conduct of elections on polling day, state-run Radio Pakistan reports.
He passed these remarks during an interaction with the Commonwealth Observer Group in Islamabad.
PM Kakar said Pakistan was proud to honour its commitment as a Commonwealth member state by inviting independent international observers to witness the electoral process.
He further highlighted the caretaker government had fulfilled its responsibilities to run the day-to-day affairs of the state and create a conducive environment ahead of the elections. Now it is the turn of the people of Pakistan to exercise their democratic right to vote, the premier added.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman has called on the Election Commission of Pakistan to “live up to its name”, raising concerns over threats to party supporters in the NA-127 (Lahore) constituency.
“It is the Election Commission of Pakistan, not of one party,” she wrote in a post on X.
The PTI has warned voters against “two new rigging methods” that it claims may be used to “reduce voter turnout” on February 8.
In a post on X, it said that in the case of a challan while driving, the police may ask the driver for their original CNIC instead of their driving license so that they would be “deprived of casting a vote on polling day due to lack of an original CNIC”.
It further claimed that voters belonging to large families were being contacted by “unknown or known phone numbers and being told that their original CNIC is being blocked due to the existence of a fake CNIC”.
The PTI urged voters to remain alert and “not hand over their original CNIC to anyone under any circumstances”.
The PTI will hold a “live transmission” on social media platforms on February 7 (tomorrow) at 8pm as part of its election campaign, the party has said.
The PTI has filed a review plea before the Supreme Court against its January 13 verdict wherein it upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order of revoking the party’s electoral symbol of ‘bat’.
In its review petition, the PTI urged the apex court to “recall” its earlier order and also declare the ECP verdict as “without jurisdiction, without lawful authority and illegal and liable to be set aside”.
It further requested that the Peshawar High Court’s verdict of reinstating the party symbol be upheld. While the SC’s registrar office has allotted a number to the plea, it is yet to be fixed for hearing.
The PTI; its secretary general Omer Ayub Khan; leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Niazullah Niazi; Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter presidents Muneer Ahmed Baloch and Ali Amin Gandapur; and party’s KP vice presidents Zahir Shah and Amjad Taj have been made petitioners in the case.
The ECP, founding member Akbar S. Babar, Noureen Farooq and others are among the respondents. Hamid, Gohar, Barrister Ali Zafar and Qazi Anwar have been appointed as the PTI’s counsels for the case.
The Awami National Party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter has said that “dozens of people” joined the party at an event held in Swat’s Khwazakhela town today.
PPP leader Sherry Rehman has said that her party has never been scared nor has it ever stepped back from contesting elections.
“We have a very successful campaign going on in the entire country,” she said while addressing a press conference in Lahore.
She said that no party should think that a certain seat was anyone’s property. “Pakistan is not anyone’s property,” she said.
“This is an election, this is not a dangal (wrestling pit),” she said.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will announce unofficial results of all 859 constituencies of the National and Provincial Assemblies on February 9 which will be issued by the returning officers, state-run APP reports.
The ECP has already completed all the arrangements to conduct free, fair and transparent general elections across the country on February 8, an ECP spokesman said.
He said the ECP has completed the printing of 260 million ballot papers for all constituencies in the country ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The spokesman said the National Assembly ballots are identifiable by green paper, whereas Provincial Assembly ballots are printed on white paper.
Except for some districts, the distribution of printed ballot papers has been finalized across the nation. The printing, which commenced on January 14, was concluded by February 3.
In compliance with a Supreme Court directive, ballot papers for 11 National Assembly and five Provincial Assembly constituencies underwent reprinting, with the original ones set for destruction as per the court order, he said.
With Dr Sikandar Shoro’s re-entry into the PPP, the party must be feeling complacent about its prospects for electoral success in Jamshoro district on Feb 8, and shrugging off opposition from rivals, chief among them Sindh United Party which is contesting polls as part of anti-PPP alliance, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).
In the 2018 elections, a contest on a provincial constituency of Kotri PS-8 had in fact turned into a tug of war between PPP’s Dr Sikandar Shoro and Malik Asad Sikandar, generating greater interest among the people of Jamshoro.
Young Dr Shoro had to put in a lot of sweat and tears to face down the experienced parliamentarian, Malik Asad. Dr Shoro wanted to salvage his family’s stakes as he believed the constituency belonged to his elders, including Siddique Shoro, who had won it consecutively as a PPP candidate from 1988-1993.
Though PPP has reconciled with Dr Shoro ahead of Feb 8 polls to bolster its chances of easy wins, Jamshoro’s electoral history tells us that if Asad were on PPP’s side, the party would not have to worry much about the four seats in Feb 8 polls.
Read more here.
With a total population of more than 2.67 million, Karachi’s West district can be described as a mini ‘metropolitan city’.
From diverse cultures to multiple ethnic communities, the district is home to people from all across Pakistan who have settled here over the years and become part of the city population, its culture and economy.
One of the country’s most populated areas, Orangi Town, is located in this district, which is also counted among the well-known low-income neighbourhoods of the region.
It is widely believed that one of the closest electoral battles will be fought here during the 2024 general elections as people from a diverse range of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds in the district will exercise their democratic right of franchise on February 8.
Read more here.
With elections less than a week away, almost all major political parties have finally released their manifestos, outlining their framework for governing the lives of over 246 million people for the next half-decade.
It is, therefore, crucial to examine what promises these parties are making to half of Pakistan — its women — this time. Dawn.com has analysed the manifestos of PPP, PML-N, PTI, JI, and MQM-P to explore what they have in store for women for the next five years.
Read more here.
The PTI has launched a mobile application to combat confusion about the electoral symbols of independent candidates backed by the party.
The app, named ‘PTI Raabta’, would provide voters with details about the party’s candidates from a constituency and their electoral symbols, even without access to the internet, according to the PTI.
Caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz has said that the “biggest honour one can have is to serve the nation”.
“I’m giving you a message that the work done by the interim government up till today was with good intentions,” he added during a presser in Islamabad.
Ejaz said he could vouch for the entire federal cabinet, saying that every member worked tirelessly.
Caretaker Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz has vowed to not let any force compromise free and fair elections on Feb 8.
“We will not let anyone cast [an ill-intentioned] gaze at our national security,” he said. “We won’t let anyone disrupt the election process,” he asserted at a press conference in Islamabad.
He added that facial recognition technology was being used for security purposes.
Ejaz said an average of seven to eight security personnel would be deployed at each of the 90,777 polling stations throughout the country which had been divided into three categories — normal, sensitive, and highly sensitive.
Interim Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz has said that the caretaker government will ensure there will be no loss of life during the Feb 8 general elections.
Addressing a presser in Islamabad alongside the caretaker information minister, he said the caretaker government had fulfilled its responsibility and was now entering the last step of conducting polls peacefully.
“My message to everyone is that the police, armed forces and civil administration are standing behind the people. You go out to vote for whoever you want,” he added.
He also warned the people to not take the law in their own hands.
The Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) has said it will restore the national institutions and protect employees and pensioners to help build the country’s economy on a strong foundation.
The day of Feb 8 will set a new path for the glorious future of the country, said IPP President and NA-117 and PP-149 candidate Abdul Aleem Khan while addressing a large public gathering at Griffon Ground on Monday.
Acknowledging that the common man is worried about the prices of electricity bills and petrol and that would be compensated by giving 300 free units of electricity.
Read more here.
Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi has assured that the elections will be carried out peacefully.
Addressing a press conference alongside interim Interior Minister Gohar Ejaz, he said the public will exercise their right to vote because the Constitution stated that elected representatives will run the country.
Vedant Patel, US State Department spokesperson, has said that the US is continuing to monitor Pakistan’s electoral process “quite closely”.
In a press briefing, Patel said that the US wanted to see that process “take place in a way that facilitates broad participation with respect for freedom of expression, assembly, and associations”. He also expressed concern for “incidents of violence and restrictions on media freedom”.
“Pakistanis deserve to exercise their fundamental right to choose their future leaders through free and fair elections without fear, violence, or intimidation, and it is ultimately for the people of Pakistan to decide their political future,” he said.
The Altaf Hussain-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement, commonly called MQM-London, has announced the names of its ‘Wafa Parast’ independent candidates on 80 national and provincial assembly seats in Sindh, including two in Punjab.
The decision, which was announced in a video briefing by London-based convener Mustafa Azizabadi on Sunday night, may have a somewhat negative impact on the prospects of the MQM-Pakistan, which seemed to be banking on the possibility of a boycott by the MQM-L.
The MQM-L had boycotted the 2018 general elections. Sources said that the names were announced at the eleventh hour as part of a strategy of the MQM-L that has been facing an undeclared ban since Aug 22, 2016 incendiary speech of its founder.
The MQM-L has fielded candidates on 19 NA seats, out of a total of 22, in Karachi, two NA seats in Hyderabad and one each in Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Sanghar, Multan and Muzzafargarh.
Read more here.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, monitoring teams of the Election Commission of Pakistan are actively operating against violations of the electoral code of conduct, reports Radio Pakistan.
According to Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the District Monitoring Officers have so far imposed a total fine of more than Rs3.2 million across the province.
Sibghatullah Virk, head of PTI’s central media department, has said that a helpline established by the party to facilitate voters had been blocked.
In a post on X, Virk called on PTI supporters to focused their energies toward preparing for the polls and finding out information about party-backed candidates.
Virk urged supporters to gain information about their respective candidates and the correct electoral symbols by sending a message to Imran Khan’s official Facebook page.
PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that the party would bring inflation down to one-digit if voted to power.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, she asserted that PML-N will fulfill its promise of providing 10 million jobs to the youth.
“We have promised interest-free loans for small farmers, solar tube wells, and smart agriculture,” she said. “We are the only party that has included climate change solutions in our manifesto,” she added.
The additional director general of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Haroon Shinwari. has said that the body is fully prepared for the peaceful conduct of elections as it has set up a 24-hour central control room to monitor polls and address public grievances on priority, state-run APP reports.
Talking to a private news channel, he said that district-level central control rooms have been set up for monitoring the election process and redressing grievances.
He stated that these control rooms will continue to function until the results of the elections are declared and the officers in the central control room will monitor the election process along with the monitoring team.
A Lahore anti-terrorism court has indicted PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid and others in cases pertaining to vandalism outside Rahat Bakery and at the Shadman police station.
It also ordered for a jail trial to be held and summoned the witnesses for the next hearing. Other suspects indicted include PTI leaders Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and Ejaz Chaudhry.
The cases were filed at the Shadman and Sarwar Road police stations in connection with the countrywide riots of May 9, resulting from PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has said that the youth should be engaged in the political system to strengthen democracy in the country, Radio Pakistan reports.
Speaking during a podcast, he said political parties’ leadership should be elected in a democratic manner to fortify democracy in the country.
He said that political parties should improve their performance to gain political space in the country.
THIS is one election where it has been more difficult than usual to keep track of candidates switching sides and parties.
Even so, a recent induction into Jahangir Khan Tareen’s IPP was surprising. Ayesha Rajab Ali who was till recently in the PML-N and even a member of the 2018 parliament on a reserved seat met Tareen and joined the IPP.
Surprising to say the least, for this is really not the moment to leave Noon and join IPP, even though JKT appears confident that his party will be working with the PML-N, post-election. The happy ending is now a foregone conclusion.
This is not the only such incident; where families who dominate constituencies for a party will face opposition from within, when one generation replaces another and the aspirants or contenders for tickets proliferate. And this is evident in the PML-N this time around as the PTI, the other contender in Punjab, has already lost many of its electables.
Read the full op-ed here.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the people of Karachi have “rejected the politics of hate and division”.
In a post on X, he thanked the public for attending his rallies in Karachi, terming it his “home”.
“Together we will return Karachi to its glory. And together we will build an equitable, peaceful, progressive, and prosperous Pakistan,” he added.
The PTI has alleged that police, as well as some masked men, sealed the election office of its incarcerated NA-118 nominee Aaliya Hamza and PP-148 aspirant Saba Dewan in Lahore.
A PTI spokesman alleged that the police and unknown masked men harassed women workers sitting in the party’s election office in NA-118 and warned them that police would not be responsible for their security if they campaigned against PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz.
He further said law enforcement personnel abducted a high court lawyer, Khalid Ranjha, and his 70-year-old ailing father by breaking the door of their house in Sargodha on Sunday night.
In Gujrat, PTI nominee for NA-64 Chaudhary Qaisara Elahi, wife of party president Parvez Elahi, and her sister Sameera Elahi, also a party candidate from PP-34, have accused the police of raiding the Zahoor Elahi House on Sunday night.
Read more here.
Three children were injured in a grenade attack on the election office of a PPP candidate in the industrial town of Hub, with unknown individuals carrying out six more grenade attacks, including those on proposed polling stations, on Monday.
Police said that unknown motorcyclists attacked the election office of PPP’s Balochistan Assembly candidate Mir Ali Hassan Zehri near Jumma Khan Hotel. The explosion occurred close to the election camp, resulting in injury to three children.
Zehri was not present in the election camp when the grenade exploded. The injured children were later transferred to Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi.
Officials said that another grenade attack took place at the election office of a PPP candidate, exploding in close proximity to the election office. However, no casualties were reported in the attack; only the camp was damaged.
Read more here.
There is something about driving through Karachi’s narrow, bumpy roads in a campaign truck — going into its poorest neighbourhoods, dodging low-hanging cables and the unforgiving branches of old banyan trees — that beats flying to jalsas aboard a helicopter or aircraft. At least that’s what PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari thinks.
“I didn’t want to call people to come to me,” he tells Dawn atop his shipping container on wheels as it meanders through Shireen Jinnah Colony, Keamari, Lyari and Malir areas. “I wanted to go to them.”
Men, women and children hung out of windows of small apartment blocks in Keamari to wave to their leader. As the truck went past the Kutiyana Memon Hospital, a woman hooked to a drip joined others on the balcony with her IV stand and danced to the undeniably catchy PPP anthem. There were thousands following his truck, some holding children in one hand and PPP flags in the other.
It was a festival, and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was the celebrity.
Read more here.
Along with his extended family, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was once regarded as one of those politicians who rarely stray too far from the establishment’s ‘right’ side.
It wasn’t until recently that he made the mistake of trying to break free from that centre of gravity of all political power. It has cost him dearly and landed him in no man’s land.
Despite his impressive CV — he has served twice as chief minister and speaker of the Punjab Assembly, once as deputy prime minister, has held federal and provincial minister-ships and is the current president of the PTI — Mr Elahi is currently languishing in jail and the chances of him walking free anytime soon seem quite slim.
His family — once regarded as a paragon of unity in Pakistan’s politics — is split down the middle and fighting itself. His son is encamped abroad, away from the establishment’s grasp.
Read more here.
Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi has said that there have been no instructions from the government so far to suspend mobile or internet services on February 8.
According to Radio Pakistan, speaking to a private news channel, he said if any law and order situation arises anywhere in the country on polling day, the local administration will take a decision accordingly.
He urged the public to judiciously exercise their democratic right to vote as “it shows their patriotism and their love for democratic continuity in the country”.
Caretaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Arshad Hussain Shah has visited Dera Ismail Khan to review the security situation ahead of the general elections scheduled to be held on Thursday, APP reports.
The chief minister visited a polling station and the modern command and control room set up at Ejaz Shaheed Police Lines and reviewed the arrangements.
He also chaired a high-level meeting in connection with security and peaceful conduct of upcoming elections.
The security arrangements and security plan for the elections were discussed in detail.
CM Shah said the peaceful conduct of the general elections was a top priority of the civil administration and police, adding that all available resources will be utilised for the purpose.
Punjab Election Commissioner Ejaz Anwar Chohan has said that preparations related to general elections in the province were in the final stages.
According to APP, he said security, communication, emergency and transportation plans had been chalked out.
Chohan further said that all district returning officers were completing preparations regarding the setting up of polling stations in their respective districts.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that over 100 foreign observers are present in the country for the February 8 general elections.
A statement from the Election Commission of Pakistan said that the CEC explained to a Commonwealth observer group that Pakistan had adopted an “open door policy” for foreign poll observers.
PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah has said that his party’s sole aim was to bring Pakistan out of the current crisis.
In a post on X, he said the PML-N had formulated a policy to control inflation including prices of gas, electricity and petroleum products.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has completed the delivery of around 260 million ballot papers for the upcoming general elections, state-run Radio Pakistan reports.
According to an ECP spokesperson, the process of ballot paper delivery was completed via road and air.
The spokesperson said that all the ballot papers were handed over from the government’s printing presses to concerned District Returning Officers and their representatives.
He said the process faced difficulties due to inclement weather, but despite all the challenges, the commission completed the work on time so that all voters can exercise their right to vote in an efficient and organised manner.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has termed reports circulating on social media showing the number of postal ballots of jail inmates by various candidates as baseless and misleading, state-run Radio Pakistan reports.
In a statement, the electoral watchdog clarified that Returning Officers open and count postal ballots in their respective constituencies in front of the candidates and their polling agents during the consolidation process. The ballot papers are later included in the final results.
The ECP urged people to not pay any attention to such misleading news.
Independent candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has said that the common man is paying the price of the country’s current political dilemma.
Addressing a rally in Islamabad, he said: “A few weeks before, a World Bank report came and the figures it provided, if you look at them then the spirit gets shocked at what 99 per cent of the people in the country are facing and going through.”
He said as per the report, 90 million people were living below the poverty line.
Malik Safdar, a resident of Dhoke Syedan, told state-run APP that due to increasing population, the issues of the NA-55 constituency are on the rise, adding that the poor condition of several roads, sewerage system, low gas pressure, and water shortage were the longstanding issues of the area.
Adil, the resident of Peoples Colony, said that people vote so that their problems can be solved, however, no attention has been paid to this constituency in the past.
Faisal, a resident of the Masrial Road area, said that high prices of commodities and unemployment were the major concerns of the people of NA-55, adding that general elections bring new hope that the elected representatives would make sincere efforts to solve their issues.
PML-Ns Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that his party would start working the “very next day” if it emerged victorious on Feb 8, adding that they would not even “waste an hour”.
As Pakistan approaches polls, TikTok has outlined efforts to combat misinformation and uphold election integrity on its platform, state-run APP reports.
The platform’s latest initiatives demonstrate its unwavering commitment to maintaining a safe, authentic, and reliable environment during this important period, according to a news release.
The app is working closely with fact-checking organisation AFP to specifically address misinformation ahead of elections.
Additionally, it has launched the Pakistan Election Center on the platform which will direct users to authoritative information on the election, including voting procedures and locations.
Moreover, its “easy-to-use” reporting tools will empower users to easily identify and report potentially misleading content.
Haroon Shinwari, the spokesperson of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), says the electoral watchdog has established a control room to monitor the Feb 8 polls.
At a media briefing, he said state-of-the-art technology would be used to monitor elections, elaborating that the ECP was for the first time using WhatsApp for complaints during the polling process.
Moreover, email and a universal helpline can be used to register complaints. Shinwari added that four control rooms had been set up on the provincial level while 32 regional control rooms had been established.
According to the spokesperson, 144 district monitoring teams had been formed for similar purposes. From Dec 25 to date, show-cause notices have been issued to 252 candidates and 156 people have been fined over violation of the code of conduct.
Multan Deputy Commissioner Capt (retd) Rizwan Qadeer has said that foolproof security arrangements would be ensured on polling day and CCTV cameras would be installed at sensitive polling stations for comprehensive monitoring, state-run APP reports.
During his visit to review arrangements at different polling stations in Multan, the deputy commissioner said that 240 polling stations had been declared sensitive in the district and assured that adequate security arrangements would be made.
He said that all possible measures were being taken to maintain law and order during the polling process.
In an interview with Independent Urdu, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said it was difficult for him to join hands with the PML-N if it came into power after the February 8 polls.
“I will not become foreign minister if Nawaz comes to power again, I can’t participate in the same old politics. If he breaks away from that and creates an environment that benefits democracy in the country, then I can stand with that,” he said.
“Both major political parties, other than PPP, engage in a politics of hatred and division, and we’re not inclined to join that,” he said. “It feels like having to choose between the devil and deep blue sea,” he said, adding that he hoped PPP was able to form its own government.
Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (r) Maqbool Baqar directed the administration to enforce a code of conduct and provide all necessary facilities to ensure free, fair, transparent, and peaceful elections on Feb 8.
According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, the CM issued these directives during a meeting to review security arrangements for polls in the province.
He instructed the administration to carry out a mock exercise to ensure the foolproof retrieval of election material. This exercise must be carried out in the mock security of the police, Rangers and the army, APP reports.
During the meeting, which was attended by provincial heads and the police chief, CM Baqar was told that 16,704 policemen, 2,552 army personnel, and 133 Quick Response Force members would be deployed for the security of 2738 polling stations.
Caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai has said that internet services will be “temporarily restricted” at sensitive polling booths located in various areas of the province.
“Ensuring the safety and security of ordinary citizens is of utmost importance, as there is a concern that terrorists may exploit social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and other similar channels for communication purposes,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Consequently, Achakzai continues, internet access would be restricted in the run-polls to polls in areas including Turbat, Mach and Chaman.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said he’s the best candidate to become prime minister at the moment owing to the solid grasp he has on multiple issues across the country.
In an interview with The Independent Urdu, the former foreign minister lamented the worsening crises of poverty, inflation and unemployment, as well as the return of terrorism in Pakistan.
“There is a fever of hyperpartisanship and polarisation across the country, and we need to break that fever,” Bilawal said. “I am not just ready [for premiership], I’m the best person to tackle all these issues.”
“Our election campaign has been fantastic, and the response from the people has exceeded our expectations,” he added, claiming that PPP is the only political party in Pakistan to have campaigned in all four provinces.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has promised that he would not allow anyone to divide Karachi or spread hatred in the city.
“You have to come out in large numbers on Feb 8. Leave your houses with your family and use your fundamental right […] vote for the PPP,” he urged supporters at a rally in Karachi.
“Don’t waste your votes on independent candidates,” he added. Rousing the crowd, Bilawal expressed confidence that with the support of the people, it would rain arrows on the poll day.
Former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has vowed to change the map of Karachi if he emerges victorious in the forthcoming general elections.
The PPP chairman said he would get Karachi its due rights through representation in the provincial and national assemblies.
“Other parties are contesting polls for their benefits […] but the PPP will work for Karachi and protect its mandate,” he said.
Drawing a comparison between his party and other political parties, Bilawal said everyone else, other than the PPP, was indulging in the politics of hate and revenge.