Local govt elections: Campaign in Phase II districts concludes today

Govt has directed contestants to surrender their licensed arms with the police

LAHORE:

Candidates for chairman, vice chairman and general councillor seats in the 12 districts where local government elections are scheduled for November 19 will wrap up their campaign activities by midnight today.

The 12 districts are Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Attock, Jhelum, Mianwali, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sheikhupura and Khanewal.

The Police Department has divided the polling stations in these districts into three categories (A+, A and B) based on their security needs. As many as 104,204 officials will perform duties at these stations under the plan approved by Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera. These will include 50,606 from the Police Department, 14,937 from the Quick Response Force and 38,661 from the Special Police. Of these, 84,101 officials will perform duties at polling stations during polling hours and 5,410 after the conclusion of polling. Another 14,693 officials will patrol areas in the vicinity of the polling stations.

The Police Department may also seek assistance from the Army and the Rangers if needed. At least 44 companies from the army and six from the Rangers will remain on standby on the polling day.

No parliamentarian or candidate will be allowed to bring their private security guards inside a polling station. People not registered as voters at a polling station will not be allowed within 300 metres of the polling station.

In view of the instances of violence during elections in Phase I, the provincial government has required all contenders to surrender their weapons to the police stations concerned. The directive issued for the purpose had stated that arms licenses would be cancelled for anyone who fails to do so.

The number of voters registered in the 12 districts is 14,685,822, including 6,403,093 women.

With 2,421,472 voters registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Gujranwala has the highest number of voters among the 12 districts. Hafizabad has the lowest number of registered voters. As many as 592,899 people are registered to vote in Hafizabad.

The number of voters registered in Sheikhupura is 1,475,171, in Khanewal 1,434,475, in Sahiwal 1,306,155, in Sargodha 1,971,217, in Toba Tek Singh 1,183,186, in Attock 1,076,686, in Mandi Bahauddin 893,376, in Jehlum 853,397, in Mianwali 823,647, and in Chiniot 654,141.

The number of candidates contesting for the chairman, vice chairman and general councillor seats is 27,888. Of these, 112 are women and 222 from minority religious groups.

The ECP has established 11,906 polling stations and 35,200 polling booths in the 12 districts where 234 returning officers, 468 assistant returning officers, 11,906 presiding officers, 70,400 assistant presiding officers and 35,200 polling officers will perform duties.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2015.