Public in sour mood as election campaigns kick off
Rawalpindi: Although the local politicians belonging to different political parties have started the election campaigns through corner meetings, displaying banners/placards, and door-to-door visits here in Rawalpindi, the mood among the general public is quite sour due to high inflation and political instability. On the other hand, the local administration has formally initiated preparations for the general elections.
The local administration, Rawalpindi has finalised polling stations and the necessary staff as per the new demarcations.
‘The News’ surveyed that leaders of all political parties were facing strong resistance from the public all around in Rawalpindi because voters were not ready to rely on any political party in this famine-like situation. The voters were insisting on political leadership to provide them relief. They also said that people were facing this famine-like situation due to political instability in the country for over five years. “What is the benefit of polling vote in this country while the elected government does not complete its tenure,” the public bemoaned.
As per record, there are 3,307,083 voters in Rawalpindi district -17,03,511 male and 16,03,572 female voters. Under the new delimitations, seven constituencies of the National Assembly and 14 seats for the provincial assembly have been carved out of Rawalpindi district.
More than 24,000 government officials from 84 departments will perform election duties while 6,000 presiding officers/assistant presiding officers as well as 24,000 polling officers will be provided training. As many as 5pc of the government officials will be kept in reserve. Five government officials will be deputed at each polling booth including a senior presiding officer, presiding officer, assistant presiding officer, and polling officer.
The commissioner said the divisional administration would provide unconditional support to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure transparent polls. Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha said fair election was indispensable for the prosperity and development of the country and for strengthening democracy. Therefore, considering this work as a social responsibility more than a professional one, implementation of the code of conduct of the Election Commission should be ensured, he added.
The commissioner issued instructions to the assistant commissioners and municipal officers to adopt necessary measures to ensure that the upcoming elections were transparent and impartial.
Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema said that 2,559 polling stations would be established in the Rawalpindi district for which 1,750 buildings had been selected. He asked assistant commissioners to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply, mobile phone signals, clean drinking water, ramps for special persons, boundary wall as well as other arrangements in the polling buildings besides adequate security arrangements.
He asked the Rawalpindi Transport Authority to arrange vehicles for election staff and directed that as soon as the election schedule was announced, a meeting should be held to assign duties to relevant departments. Out of the 2,559 polling stations to be set up in the district, 663 would be combined polling stations, 938 would exclusively be for women and 950 would cater to male voters.
Talking to ‘The News’ several people said that they want fair and free general elections for the formulation of a stable government in the country. We don’t want to see the humiliation of our votes but newer and newer experiences have collapsed the whole economy of our country, public has shown strong concerns.
Shahzad Ahmed, a local citizen said that where is ‘voter’ in this whole episode? The elected government takes votes in the name of providing relief to the public but the public was nothing in policy-making decisions. The elected members completely forget public grievances when they reach the assemblies, he strongly protested.
Nadeem Ahmed, Naveed Butt, Ahmed Masood, Kishwar Nahid, Rehana Kausar, Shahdab Ahmed, Muhammad Faheem, Muhammad Rizwan, Uroosa Tariq, Aysha Bhatti, and several other citizens said that they were paying the cost of polling votes of different political parties. “We are buying 1-kilogram ghee at Rs520, a 10-kilogram Atta bag at Rs1600, a ‘Roti’ at Rs25, a ‘Naan’ at Rs30, rice at Rs430, potato at Rs100, onion at Rs150, ginger at Rs500, garlic at Rs680, one-litre milk at Rs200, one-kilogram mutton at Rs2000, beef at Rs1100 and chicken at skyrocketing rates,” they said. We are facing a famine-like situation due to the casting of votes in general elections, people said.
