Election campaign culminates today

Parties, candidates set to make last-ditch efforts to sway minds of 128 million voters on final day

ISLAMABAD:

In anticipation of the upcoming general elections scheduled for Thursday, February 8, Tuesday (today) marks the culmination of an intense campaign period as political parties and candidates make their final push to sway voters.

As per the election schedule, the political parties and candidates are required to wrap up their campaigns by midnight tonight. Hence, final rallies and events have been organised by the candidates this evening to make a last-ditch effort to attract the voters.

So far, the election campaign has been marked by intense political rivalry, heated debates, fiery speeches and massive rallies. The candidates have tried to woo the voters with their promises, slogans and manifestos.

Across the nation, candidates scrambled in a bid to sway the minds of the over 128 million registered voters from bustling Punjab to rugged Balochistan. During this period, the political landscape resembled a vibrant tapestry woven with rallies, speeches, and passionate pleas for votes.

A staggering total of 5,121 candidates, including 4,807 males, 312 females, and two transgender individuals – representing a diverse spectrum of parties and ideologies – are vying for the 266 general seats in the National Assembly.

Simultaneously, 12,695 candidates, comprising 12,123 males, 570 females, and two transgenders, are contesting the 593 general seats across the four provincial assemblies. Voting for both the National and the provincial assemblies will be held on the same day.

Read also: Parties deny representation to transgender community

The nation boasts a formidable 128,585,760 registered voters, with Punjab leading the count at 73,207,896, followed by Sindh with 26,994,769, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) with 21,928,119, Balochistan with 5,371,947, and Islamabad with 1,083,029 registered voters.

The parties in the fray are the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and several others regional and religious parties.

However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is also in the contest but not as a party, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declined to allocate its election symbol of bat, after objecting to its intra-party elections. Instead, the PTI’s candidates are contesting as independents.

On the last day of the campaigning, political parties have finalised their plans for their last power shows before the voting. The PML-N will hold a rally in Kasur and then conclude the campaign with a big power show in Lahore, which would be addressed by Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and others.

The PPP will conclude its election campaign with a rally in Larkana, which will be addressed by party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-Chairman Asif Zardari. Maulana Fazlur Rehman will address a JUI-F rally in Dera Ismail Khan and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq will address a rally in Peshawar.

Robust security

According to the ECP, after the end of the campaigning at the midnight between Feb 6 and 7, the election materials would be dispatched to the polling staff under police security. The transport plan for the election material has been finalised, they added.

In a significant development related to election security in Punjab, an announcement has been made regarding the involvement of more than 53,000 retired police officers and soldiers. This decision aims to ensure a robust security presence during the electoral process.

The security arrangements also include 31,000 male employees and 22,000 female employees alongside the police force. An order has been issued for employees from various departments, including rescue, civil defence, forest, and irrigation, to report to their respective district police officers (DPOs).