Political campaigns end today prior to Aug.22 by-elections in Pakistan

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given instructions to all political parties to end their election campaigns for the upcoming by-elections by midnight on Tuesday. According to ECP, all the political parties were directed to end their campaigns by midnight for the by-elections to be held on Thursday in 42 constituencies of the country. The by-elections will be held for 16 National Assembly seats and 26 Provincial Assemblies seats, as they were made vacant by the members of the assembly who won the seats from more than one constituency. The political parties and political candidates were found addressing public meetings and gatherings on the last day of campaigns before the elections. The ECP has dispatched the electoral material to the relevant Returning Officers (ROs) and all the necessary arrangements including printing of ballot papers had been made. According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), over 4000 military troops were moved to the sensitive polling stations to ensure a peaceful polling process. ECP has declared that army personnel would be able to exercise powers of the first-class magistrate under which they could arrest or punish any troublemakers trying to interfere with smooth polling on August 22 Earlier, the Election Commission Secretary, Ishtiak Ahmed Khan, ensured that by-elections would be held in Jhal Magsi, Dera Ismail Khan and all parts of Pakistan as per schedule on August 22. The threats of terrorism and the recent floods in parts of Pakistan made the commencement of by-elections on time doubtful but the Election Commission Secretary said that though there were intelligence reports about terror threats elections would be held in Dera Ismail Khan on time. The ECP officials said that there would be a total of 7,600 polling stations out of which 1,657 have been declared most sensitive due to security threats and chances to be rigged. The polling would commence at 8 am in the morning and continue undisrupted until 5 pm in the evening.