Elections: Stipulated time to campaign comes to an end

All parties are supposed to stop advertisements and other campaigning from midnight.

As the clock struck midnight on May 10, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) 32 hour ban on election campaigning came into effect before Saturday’s polls.

The ECP has said that any violation of the deadline will warrant disqualification of the concerned candidates. They can be fined upto Rs100‚000 and the returning officers can withhold their results.

Polling will be held on Saturday, May 11, from 8am to 5pm without any break.

The last day of the electioneering saw a flurry of activity by political parties throughout the country who took out rallies and held public meetings.

Just minutes before the time ran out, public meetings by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the Pakistan Peoples Party came to an end in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Nawaz Sharif was present at his rally to address the gathered supporters in Lahore. He urged his supporters to vote for his party.

Meanwhile, PTI chief Imran Khan spoke to his supporters in Islamabad via a video link from his hospital bed in Lahore. He called on his supporters to vote for his party to realise their dreams for a "Naya Pakistan".

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari addressed his party's supporters, gathered in Rawalpindi,  via a pre-recorded video message where he called on the people of Rawalpindi to repay the debt of her mother's blood by voting for the PPP. The PPP chairman has not addressed any of his party's election rally in person due to terror threats.

The final day of the campaign took another dramatic turn when on Thursday evening gunmen kidnapped the son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. They also killed his secretary and one of his bodyguards besides wounding four other people in the process.