By-Polls Under Way In Punjab, Balochistan

As polls were under way on 21 national and provincial seats on Sunday, cellular services were to remain suspended in “specific districts” of Punjab and Balochistan. According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday, “cellular services will be temporarily suspended in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan during the by-elections” on April 21 and 22 (Monday).

The PTA said the decision had beem taken on the directives of the interior ministry to “safeguard the integrity and security of the electoral process”.

Earlier on Saturday, the interior ministry had allowed the suspension of mobile internet services to “maintain law and order” in 13 districts and tehsils in Punjab.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the by-elections are being held for five vacant seats of the National Assembly; 12 of the Punjab Assembly, and two each of the Khyber Pakh¬tunkhwa and Balochistan legislatures, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Polling began at 8am and will continue till 5pm without any break.

The ECP has set up Election Monitoring and Control Centres to register and address public complaints during the by-elections. The centres were located at provincial, divisional and district levels, in addition to the watchdog’s secretariat in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan stated.

Separately, re-polling in all constituencies of Balochistan’s PB-50 (Qila Abdullah) is also being held today. A day ago, the interior ministry allowed the suspension of mobile internet services to “maintain law and order” in 13 districts and tehsils in Punjab on the recommendations of the provincial government.

The Punjab home department had on Friday written a letter to the interior ministry stating that the by-elections had been scheduled for April 21 in Punjab’s four districts and nine tehsils, adding that there was a need to suspend the mobile internet services to maintain law and order and avoid any untoward incident.

The home department had sought the suspension of mobile internet services in Gujrat, Kasur, Sheikhupura and Lahore districts as well as in Talagang, Chakwal, Kallar Kahar, Ali Pur Chatha, Zafarwal, Bhakkar City, Sadiqabad, Kot Chutta and Dera Ghazi Khan City tehsils. Sources in the home department said the Pakistan Telecommunication Aut-hority (PTA) would surely suspend mobile internet services to maintain law and order. The interior ministry has also decided to deploy the army and civil armed forces at a request made by the ECP almost two weeks ago.

As per an order issued by the ministry, the civil armed forces and the Pakistan Army units would be used as second and third tiers of security and would be available till April 22. “The exact number of troops, date/period, area and mode of deployment would be worked out by the ECP in consultation with all concerned stakeholders based on ground requirement/assessment,” the order read.

A PTI spokesman said the electoral rules and regulations were being flouted as was the case during the general elections, besides victimising the party leaders, workers and supporters.

Vacant Seats

The general elections for Bajaur’s NA-8 and PK-22 had been postponed because of the murder of a candidate, Rehan Zeb Khan. As for NA-44, Dera Ismail Khan, the constituency was vacated by PTI-backed Ali Amin Gandapur, who retained his provisional assembly seat to become KP’s chief minister. Similarly, Lahore’s NA-119 was vacated by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who preferred to become an MPA from PP-159.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won polls for two NA and two provincial legislature seats. He left the NA-132, Kasur, as well as Lahore’s PP-158 and PP-164 seats vacant, and retained NA-123, Lahore, seat.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari won two seats in the NA. He retained NA-194, Larkana, seat and left NA-196, Qamber Shahdadkot, seat vacant. PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari vacated NA-207, Shaheed Benazirabad, seat to be elected as the country’s president. Zardari’s daughter, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, has already been elected unopposed from the seat vacated by her father.

The polls for KP Assembly seat PK-91, Kohat, were postponed after the death of an ANP leader. A Sindh Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Abdul Aziz Junejo, who won elections from PS-80, Dadu. In Balochistan, BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal retained the NA-256 seat and left Khuzdar’s PB-20 seat vacant.

In Punjab, PML-N leader Ghulam Abbas retained NA-53, Rawalpindi, seat and left PP-22 seat. Similarly, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain retained NA-64 and vacated PP-32, Gujrat, seat.

The PP-36, Wazirabad, seat fell vacant after Muhammad Ahmad Chattha did not take oath. The PP-54, Narowal, seat fell vacant as PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal did not take oath. He preferred to retain NA-76, Narowal, seat. Shei¬k¬hupura’s PP-139, fell vacant because PML-N’s Ra¬¬¬na Tanveer did not take oath. Like-wise, the prime minister’s son Hamza Shehbaz did not take oath for PP-147, Lahore.

PP-149 from Lahore fell vacant because Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party’s Aleem Khan retained the city’s NA-117 seat. The polls for PP-266, Rahim Yar Khan, were postponed because of the death of a candidate. The PP-290, Dera Ghazi Khan, was declared vacant after Awais Leghari did not take the oath._DAWN