ISLAMABAD, Aug 21: The federal government has instructed all provincial authorities to take appropriate steps to prevent successful poll candidates from staging rallies and processions, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Dawn on Sunday.

Mr Sherpao said the interior ministry had noted that some incidents of violence had taken place in some parts of the country during post-election activities or after the polling in the first phase of elections held on Aug 18.

These incidents had taken place when supporters of successful candidates took out rallies to celebrate their victory.

He said the provinces had been directed to take strict action against the staging of rallies and processions by winning candidates as this was a clear violation of election rules.

More than a dozen people were killed in different parts of the country during the first phase of the LG polls, according to reports.

However, the minister said that conditions in the country were quite “conducive” for the second phase of local government elections on Aug 25.

Mr Sherpao said special measures had been taken to maintain law and order, especially in areas that had already been declared sensitive.

He pointed out that the overall law and order situation during the Aug 18 phase of the polls was satisfactory, except for a few post-election incidents of violence.

“There were some post-election incidents of violence in Gujranwala district and Akora Khattak and now appropriate steps have been taken to avoid such incidents in these areas on Tuesday,” he said.

The minister ruled out the possibility of deploying the army in sensitive areas on the plea that the number of law enforcement personnel already deployed there would be increased to avoid untoward incidents.

Mr Sherpao said all the accused involved in violence during the polls had been arrested and cases had been registered against them.

The minister expressed satisfaction that there was no complaint about continuous break in the polling in any polling station in the country.

He said the situation in the most sensitive areas in Sindh, including Karachi, remained satisfactory during the LG elections.

“If you compared these elections with all previous polls in the country, the ongoing LG elections would be found more peaceful and better in terms of security,” the minister claimed.