After over a year of political wrangling, legal battles, accusations and recriminations, Pakistan finally votes in its biggest-ever polls, featuring more parties and eligible voters than ever before. There is a sense the country is simply going through the motions — electioneering was a dull affair — and what pre-poll fervour there was has been wiped out after the menace of terrorism reared its head. Still, by exercising their right to vote, the people will reaffirm that even in imperfect times, democracy must endure.

ISLAMABAD: The nation goes to the polls today (Thursday) hoping that tomorrow will bring a fresh start. After months of delays, controversies and persistent concerns over the fairness of the exercise, it is hoped that most of the more than 128 million registered voters will exercise their right to franchise.

The voting process is scheduled to begin at 8am and will continue without a break till 5pm. Those already in queue at 5pm will be allowed to vote, even if it requires extending the cutoff time. If some polling stations witness any disruptions, officials may extend the voting time to allow waiting voters to cast their ballots. Counting will begin soon after voting closes, with tentative results expected within a few hours.

With 56m of the voters below the age of 35, and roughly 29m in the 36-45 bracket, Pakistan’s younger generations are in a position to heavily influence the results. There is also a marked gender imbalance in the electoral rolls, with women voters accounting for only 46 per cent of all registered voters.

Voters will elect 266 candidates to the National Assembly, who will later, by a majority vote, elect the next prime minister. Simultaneously, voters will also elect representatives to their respective provincial assemblies, who will then elect the provincial chief executives under a similar process. Elections have been postponed in one national and three provincial assembly constituencies due to the deaths of contesting candidates. These are NA-8 (Bajaur), PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat) and PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan). Voters elsewhere will cast two votes each — one for each of the two assemblies.

In all, 17,816 candidates are in the running, of which 12,695 will be contesting for provincial assembly seats and 5,121 for the National Assembly. They include 16,930 males, 882 females and four transgender persons. Of these, 6,031 candidates — 5,726 males and 275 females — are contesting on a political party’s ticket. The remaining 11,785 are contesting as independents, of which 11,174 are males, 607 females and four transgender persons.

Some 260 million ballot papers — half of them printed on green, and half on white, water-marked paper — have been printed and delivered under heavy security cover to presiding officers at 90,675 polling stations. More than half of these polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ or ‘most sensitive’. The election exercise will be secured by 648,000 security personnel, which include 137,000 army and paramilitary troops and 511,000 police personnel.

The army, under the rules, will serve as a third layer of security in quick response force mode. However, two army personnel will be deployed outside each of the 18,000 highly sensitive polling stations. They will only enter the polling stations if the presiding officers so require.

The run-up to the polls saw some dramatic developments, including the conviction of former prime minister and PTI founding chairman Imran Khan in three different cases in less than 10 days. The PTI also saw several leaders pulling out of the electoral race at the eleventh hour. It earlier had to deal with the rejection of its candidates’ nomination papers in large numbers, incidents of snatching of ballot papers, and a number of attacks on its candidates and election offices, apart from the denial of its coveted election symbol.

Earlier, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif returned from self-exile in London and was promptly acquitted in the pending corruption cases against him. His path to another stint in office was subsequently cleared by a Supreme Court verdict reversing an earlier ruling on Article 62(1)(f). Thereafter, Sharif came to be seen as a leading contender for the prime minister’s office, and may find himself ruling the country for a fourth time.

The large number of independent contestants, which includes the PTI’s candidates, may complicate the formation of the next government, which has added to the uncertainty surrounding the election’s outcomes. There are fears that successful independents may be lured by other political parties once the race to attain a simple majority kicks off, which will significantly alter the political landscape. The magic number required to form the next government is 169.

The ECP’s decision to use a new Election Management System (EMS) to tabulate poll results also sparked a recent controversy, with some alleging that the system would be used to rig the results.

Final touches

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja on Wednesday spoke to the provincial chief secretaries and inspectors-general of police to direct them to keep security on high alert.

According to the ECP’s spokesperson, the CEC asked the officials to complete the deployment of security personnel as early as possible and ensure the security of voters, returning officers and district returning officers across the country.

Taking notice of a bombing incident near the office of a political party in the Pishin district of Balochistan, the Election Commission sought immediate reports on the incident and directed that immediate action should be taken against those involved.

The commission also issued instructions regarding the preparation of Form 45. It directed presiding officers to prepare Form 45 carefully so that there are no mistakes, sign it with their identity card, and take signatures from the polling agents present at the polling station.

The Election Commission has further directed that if a polling agent refuses to sign the form, a short reason for their refusal should be provided. Once the formalities are completed, a copy of Form 45 should be pasted outside the polling station and provided to the polling agents. According to the ECP, the presiding officers will be responsible for any changes in Form 45 after it is pasted.

Disciplinary action

Separately, the ECP has put Daniyal Aziz, a candidate from NA-75 Narowal, on notice for violating the election code of conduct. It will take the matter up for hearing on February 10, 2024. The commission has decided that if Daniyal Aziz is successful in securing a seat, the issuance of his final notification will be subject to the ECP’s decision.

The ECP said it took the decision in light of a report forwarded by the District Monitoring Officer in Narowal. Mr Aziz had allegedly been violating the code of conduct repeatedly and had not responded or appeared after a notice was issued to him by the District Monitoring Officer.

Mr Aziz was also fined Rs50,000 for violating the code of conduct which he has not paid, due to which legal action was taken against him.

In a related development, the ECP also suspended an Information group officer, Pir Suleman Rashdi, on account of misconduct and violation of code of conduct after he recorded a video message in support of candidates of a political party.

The ECP said it had also taken notice of political advertisements, statements and content being run continuously on electronic media despite the imposition of a legally-mandated moratorium on political campaigning and content. It has directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to hold channels accountable and ensure the implementation of Section 182 of the Elections Act as well as the Code of Conduct for national media.

Decision on Salman Akram Raja’s plea

In another development, the Election Commission rejected a petition filed by barrister Salman Akram Raja, who is contesting from Lahore, through which he had sought to be declared a PTI candidate.

According to the decision, announced by a five-member bench headed by the CEC, the election symbol has been withdrawn from the PTI, with which Raja is affiliated.

The order read, “the petitioner has been allotted a symbol from the chart available for independent candidates, as the party with which he claims affiliation has not been allocated an election symbol by the Commission. Allowing any entry in absence of a party symbol in Column 5 of Form 33, and the entry of the applicant’s name as a candidate of PTI will contradict the symbol and identity of the party, as the petitioner is declared as an independent candidate.”

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2024