LAHORE, Aug 24: All is set for the second phase of local elections being held in 1,180 union councils of 18 districts of the Punjab on Thursday (today). A total of 19,164,545 voters will use their right to franchise to elect 23,530 out of 67,448 candidates in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara districts.
Of them, 11 districts have been declared as sensitive and army has been called out there. They include Lahore, Faisalabad, Narowal, Jhang, Okara and Rawalpindi.
Police claim to have made elaborate security arrangements in the light of the instructions of the election commission.
The chief election commissioner has not only banned rallies by winners but also warned district police officers (DPOs) and station house officers (SHOs) of action if any untoward incident occurs before and on the polling day.
The police have asked candidates for nazim and naib nazim to submit surety bonds worth hundreds of thousands of rupees before area magistrates concerned. They have also been warned of disqualification if any untoward incident occurs in union councils concerned.
Punjab Election Commissioner Rahim Nawaz Khan Durrani says that more police contingent have been summoned from districts where poling is not being held and number of policemen at each sensitive polling station has been doubled.
As many as 19,528 polling stations and 65,821 polling booths have been set up for voters in the province.
Durrani says that availability of all required material like ballot papers and boxes, stamps, ink, etc. has been ensured at each polling station while all polling staff have also joined their duties.
Observers from various countries are also visiting different towns to have the first-hand information about election arrangements.
In Lahore, Japanese diplomat Hideki Ishizuka visited the election commission offices on Wednesday where Assistant Election Commissioner Rana Muhammad Aslam Khan briefed him on the process.
The diplomat also called on MMA’s Hafiz Salman Butt and other opposition leaders in the city to know their views on the exercise.
Meanwhile, contestants continued violating the code of conduct by exceeding the limit on expenses during electioneering. Publicity banners of candidates can be seen in almost each union council though the chief election commissioner had directed their immediate removal while chairing a high-level meeting of the provincial administration on Aug 11.
At least 1,451 candidates have already returned unopposed. They include 66 panels of nazims and naib nazims.
SECURITY PLAN: Troops on Wednesday patrolled the city roads and elsewhere in the Punjab.
“The troops have begun flag marches in the sensitive areas to discourage mischief mongers,” Punjab IGP Ziaul Hasan said.
He said the law enforcers would ensure fair and transparent polling. He said special police teams had already initiated a crackdown against illicit weapons to maintain peace on the election day.
Lahore city police chief DIG Tariq Saleem said that there would be a high alert on Thursday and nobody would be allowed to violate the code of conduct issued by the election commission. Special squads and police commandos would patrol the city roads, he said, adding contingent had been deployed in and around the sensitive polling stations.
Mr Saleem said that the owners of vehicles hired by the district government and the police would be paid accordingly.
“All vehicles have been hired and none of them has been impounded,” he claimed. He said that the IGP had given approved money required for making payment to transporters. Besides, he said money would be used to make food arrangements for police officials on the election duty.
The police chief directed the Lahore SSPs (operations and investigation) to ensure payment to vehicle owners, and said that anybody having a complaint in this regard should contact him.
The troops together with police commandos had a round of the city and other cities of the province and different polling stations. A senior Punjab government official said that the troops would be deployed in 11 districts and more would be called out if required.
The IGP asked senior police officials to personally supervize security arrangements and allow nobody to create any hurdle in voting process.
The IGP directed the officials to register cases forthwith against violators of the ban on rallies without any discrimination. He warned the officials of departmental action against in case of the dereliction of their duties.