Polling remains largely peaceful in KP

PESHAWAR: Apart from a couple of terrorist attacks reported in Dera Ismail Khan division, polling for the general elections remained largely peaceful in the rest of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where people voted amid strict security.

The suspension of internet and cellular phone service on election day bothered millions of people throughout the important day.

Polling was held smoothly in most of the districts of the province.

Four policemen were martyred and three others were wounded when a police party was attacked in the Kulachi town of Dera Ismail Khan district with an improvised explosive device followed by firing that continued for a few minutes. One security official was martyred while a cop and a civilian were wounded in two separate attacks in parts of the Tank district on the polling day.

“Apart from Dera Ismail Khan, polling was held peacefully all over the province despite numerous challenges that had made the current elections more difficult than the past ones,” Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told The News.

A few minor incidents of clashes by supporters of rival parties disrupted the polling process at a few polling stations but voting resumed within no time.

Election was held on Thursday for 45 general seats of the National Assembly and 115 general seats of the provincial Assembly in the province.

The turn-out of voters remained low at many polling stations.

Extraordinary security arrangements were made for the polls across the country.

The cops assisted by the soldiers of Pakistan army and Frontier Constabulary remained alert at polling stations and other parts of the respective districts.

Over 70 per cent of the 15696 polling stations in KP were declared sensitive and most sensitive due to law and order challenges and in the wake of some recent attacks.

In Peshawar, firing was reported at a woman polling station in Lahori Gate area after which two workers of a political party were arrested. Also, the firing was reported at a polling station in Shahab Khel Village near Badaber Peshawar after which security personnel rushed to the spot. Senior police and civilian officers visited different polling stations in Peshawar to check the security situation as well as to ensure the smooth polling process.

Roads and trade centers in the provincial capital mostly remain deserted as people were busy in polling votes and supporting the candidates. The spokesman for the Election Commission of Pakistan after a statement by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, an independent candidate from Buner, said 4604 polling staff were deployed at397 polling stations of the district.

Besides, 3029 policemen and 32 personnel of the Quick Response Force were deployed for security.

“About reports of stopping women from polling in Swabi, the returning officer concerned visited the NA 20 where elders told the officials that nobody stopped females from voting,” said the spokesman.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded restoration of cellular and internet services across the country during the polling day. “The ongoing disruption of services has occurred despite the Sindh High Court’s direction to the caretaker government to ensure uninterrupted internet services on polling day. With the PTA claiming it has received no instructions from the government to block internet services, there is a worrying lack of transparency about where, when and for how long the disruption will continue, thereby affecting voters’ right to information and potentially the transmission of results.

Those who gave this order must be identified and held responsible,” stated the HRCP. As many as 713 candidates were in the run for National Assembly and 1814 for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

A number of women were among the front runners for few national and provincial assembly seats, giving a tough time to male rivals throughout electioneering in constituencies and on social media.

As many as 15696 polling stations were set up for the election across the province. Out of these 4178 polling stations were declared most sensitive while 5925 polling stations were declared sensitive.

There were over 20.19 million voters in KP out of which over11.94 million were male voters and over 9.98 million were female voters. According to senior officials 11 security personnel were deployed at most sensitive polling stations in the southern belt and merged districts of the province as per the security plan.

In other parts of KP, seven security personnel were deployed at every most sensitive polling station. Besides, in southern and merged districts, seven security personnel were deployed at each of the sensitive polling stations and four security personnel at each of the normal polling stations. In the rest of the KP, five security personnel performed duty at each sensitive and four at each normal polling station.