Local governments: No celebratory rallies, gunfire in second phase of polling

Shahbaz says police should have been prepared on Saturday to check violence

LAHORE: The government announced on Sunday that winners in the second phase of local government elections would not be allowed to arrange celebratory processions.

The decision was made at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The meeting reviewed the steps taken for maintaining order during the first phase of elections.

The chief minister ordered that the ban on carrying weapons be strictly enforced. “Those resorting to celebratory gunfire should be put behind bars,” he said. He said that in the first phase, the polls had been held transparently in 12 districts.

Sharif said protection of citizens’ lives and property was the government’s priority. “The authorities did their best to maintain order during polling,” he said. He expressed concern over violent clashes in Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib and Phoolnagar. “Police should have taken steps to check such incidents,” he said.



The chief minister ordered that those involved in the unrest be immediately arrested. He said FIRs should be registered against them. “They will have to face the music regardless of their political affiliations.” He called for devising a mechanism to avoid violence in the second phase of polling.

Earlier, the inspector general of police and the home secretary presented reports on the violence in Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib and Phoolnagar. Government’s spokesman Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal and the information secretary attended the meeting.

Congratulations

Sharif congratulated the winning candidates from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He said the election results had exposed the hollowness of allegations regarding rigging in the 2013 general elections. He said that due to people’s support, the PML-N candidates had won comfortably. “This is a victory for politics that is service, trust, honesty and transparency,” the chief minister said.

Sharif said the government would continue to work for the country’s progress and that no effort would be spared in this regard. He said the nation would be rid of electricity load shedding. He called upon the winners to dedicatedly serve the people. “They should live up to the expectations of their voters,” Sharif said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2015.