CEC orders high security, early deployment of forces

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja Wednesday talked to the chief secretaries and inspectors general of police (IGPs) of the four provinces and directed them to keep security on high alert to ensure the security of voters.

The authorities vowed all arrangements for peaceful elections, just hours after deadly blasts rocked Balochistan, killing nearly 30 people and injuring dozens of others.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) data, as many as 128.5 million Pakistanis would cast their votes today to elect the new leadership for the next five years. The massive electorate, comprising 69,263,704 males and 59,322,056 females, would play a pivotal role in determining the fortunes of 175 political parties vying for various seats.

According to the commission’s spokesman, the CEC also asked them to complete the deployment of security personnel as early as possible for voters’ security as well as of the district returning officers and returning officers across the country.

Particularly, during a talk with the chief secretary and IG police Balochistan, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja expressed grief over the two acts of terrorism in the province and assured them that if they needed the support of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), they should inform him accordingly.

Also, the Election Commission issued a notice to Daniyal Aziz, a candidate from NA-75 Narowal, for violating the code of conduct and fixed the matter for hearing on February 10, 2024. The commission decided that if he would win the seat in the general election, issuance of his final notification would be subject to the ECP’s decision.

Separately, the ECP rejected a petition of Salman Akram Raja, a candidate from Lahore against declaring himself an independent candidate. According to the decision announced by the five-member bench headed by the CEC, an electoral symbol was given to the candidate like all other independent candidates. The order reads, “The petitioner has been allotted symbol from the chart available for the independent candidates as the party to which he claims affiliation, has not been allocated election symbol by the commission. Allowing any entry in absence of party symbol in column 5 of Form 33 and entry of applicant’s name as a candidate of the PTI will contradict the symbol and identity of party as the petitioner is declared as an independent candidate”.

“…the petitioner’s candidature of PTI cannot be entered in Column 5 of Form 33. Rule 94 of the Election Rules, 2017 explains that the purpose of declaring seats won by each political party, the expression ‘Political Party’ means a political party to which a symbol has been allocated by the Commission,” it explains.

Meanwhile, the ECP issued instructions to presiding officers for the preparation of Form 45. It has directed the presiding officers to prepare Form 45 carefully so that there is no mistake; presiding officers should sign Form 45 with an identity card and take the signature on the form from the polling agents at the polling station. The ECP said if the signature of polling agent was denied, they should write a short reason for it in Form 45. After the signature, a copy of Form 45 should be pasted outside the premises and given to polling agents. According to the commission, the presiding officers will be responsible for any change in Form 45 after pasting and sending the pictures of Form 45 to returning officers.

Also, the ECP has termed misleading a video circulating on social media regarding the printing and size of ballot papers and clarified that ballot papers were always printed in single, double and triple columns and Urdu alphabetical order according to the number of candidates. It pointed out that informational videos related to other phases are available on the ECP website www.ecp.gov.pk and YouTube channel.