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PTI, MQM-P Workers Face Off During By-polls in Karachi

Karachi (October 21, 2018): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) workers came face to face during the ongoing by-election for one National Assembly and one Sindh Assembly seat in the metropolis on Sunday.

Political workers from the rival parties shouted slogans at each other during the standoff at an election camp near Lucky Star, Saddar.

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The political tension was only defused when Rangers intervened and brought the situation under control. Police contingents have been deployed at election camps across the city to prevent any further untoward incident.

Twelve candidates are in the run for the NA-247 seat while 11 are contesting for the Sindh Assembly seat.

NA-247 was vacated by President Dr Arif Alvi while PS-111 was vacated by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail.

Amid strict security arrangements, by-polls for National Assembly seat NA-247, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seat PK-71, Sindh Assembly seat PS-111 and Azad Kashmir constituencies LA 18 Poonch 2 are being held today (Sunday).

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51 polling stations in Peshawar were declared sensitive while 35 were highly sensitive, however, strict security measures have been taken..

The polling started at 8am and will continue until 5pm.

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According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), there are 546,451 registered voters in NA-247 and 178,965 registered voters in PS-111.

Earlier Election Commission finalized all necessary arrangements to hold the elections in a peaceful manner. ECP has also canceled employees holidays.

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NA-247 was vacated by President Arif Alvi,  while PS-111 was vacated by Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and PK 71 fell vacant after Shah Farman was appointed as Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.NA-247

For NA-247, the PTI has nominated billionaire businessman and real estate developer Aftab Hussain Siddiqui while the Pakistan Peoples Party has given a ticket to showbiz celebrity Qaiser Nizamani. Others in the fray include Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Sadiq Iftikhar, Pakistan Sunni Tehreek’s Ali Nawab and Pak Sarzameen Party’s Arshad Vohra.

In the July 25 general elections held earlier this year, PTI’s Alvi had won the seat comfortably after securing 91,020 votes. His closest two contenders were Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan’s Syed Zaman Shah Jaffery with 24,680 votes and MQM’s Farooq Sattar with 22,780 votes.

Observers believe PTI’s Siddiqui shall comfortably secure the seat as the party enjoys considerable support. Moreover, in the absence of the TLP, which had returned the second-highest tally on July 25 and enjoys support from Old City areas, there hardly seems to be any real competition.

According to the ECP, there are 240 polling stations in the constituency where around 546,451 voters, 295,567 men and 250,884 women, will be able to cast votes.PS-111

For PS-111, the PTI has allotted its ticket to Shahzad Qureshi, who is also the information secretary for party’s Karachi division. PPP’s Fayaz Pirdaza, MQM-P’s Dr Jahanzeb Mughal and independent candidate Jibran Nasir – a rights activist – are also in the fray.

On Sunday, the 178,965 registered voters, 94,719 men and 84,246 women, will be able to cast votes in 80 polling stations set up across the constituency.

With the exception of the PTI and PPP, no party has started campaigning as is the custom. The MQM has fielded candidates but its campaign is no where as enthusiastic as those from yester-years.Image result for by poll campaign ends in PakistanIn both constituencies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has pledged support for the PPP while the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and the Jamaat-e-Islami have not fielded any candidate. According to the ECP, army personnel will be deployed at polling stations to ensure free and fair elections.

PK-71

The Peshawar seat was vacated after Shah Faman was appointed governor. PTI’s Zulfiqar Khan and ANP’s Salahuddin are contesting the election along with three independent candidates.

 

Earlier on October 19, The Election Commission of Pakistan set up facilitation center for October 21 by-election on a national assembly and two provincial assembly seats.

The facilitation center to work from 8 am to 6 pm on the polling day.ECP Sets Up Facilitation Center For October 21 By-pollThe voters of the concern constituencies can get the information regarding votes and results while election commission has issued telephone number for contact on the polling day as well.

Use of RTS

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has linked over 90 per cent polling stations of three constituencies with Result Transmission System (RTS).

According to ECP sources, more than ninety per cent polling stations of three constituencies- NA-247, PS-111 and KP-71- are linked with the RTS to get rapid results.

The data of the concern presiding officers and polling schemes have already been handed over to National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) for the use of RTS.The RTS experiments got success in the first phase of the by-election and results of the 35 constituencies have been announced till the midnight 2: pm by the help of RTS.

Overseas Pakistanis Excluded from By-poll

Overseas Pakistanis will not be able to vote in the second round of by-elections scheduled for Oct 21, today, because they were never registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), an ECP official said.Overseas Pakistanis had been entitled to vote for 35 constituencies in the by-elections held on Oct 14. The decision in this regard was taken on the directives of the Supreme Court by the ECP and trialled for the first time. Out of the 7,364 overseas Pakistani who registered for the programme, 6,233 had polled their votes through an I-voting software.

The ECP had decided to include the votes cast by the overseas Pakistanis in the first round of by-poll results after consulting with the National Database and Registration Authority authorities.

Related News:

By-election: Polling Underway For One NA, Two PA Seats

By-election Being Held For AJK Legislative Assembly Seat