People in Sindh will go to polls on Monday to elect 61 members for National Assembly on general seats and 130 members on provincial assembly general seats, for which the Election Commission of Pakistan has made error-free and fear-free arrangements.
In all, Sindh will have representation of 75 members in national assembly including 14 reserved seats for women, and 10 from all over Pakistan on non-Muslim seats. The Sindh Assembly seats are 168, including 130 general seats, 29 reserved seats for women, and 9 for non-Muslims. Only from Karachi, out of total 440 candidates listed, 172 are independent candidates for the provincial assembly.
Among the nine women candidates, on provincial seats, one is on the MQM ticket and one is on PML (N) ticket. The National assembly seats from Karachi have five females. They will face tough candidates.
Though female candidates were not seen visiting people in their respective constituencies but their workers went from door to door to do the canvassing.
Those who are independent candidates, dependent upon their promoters for their election work, remained busy in sustaining their support.
Seemingly, there were no obvious violations of the rules laid down for electioneering by the ECP but in certain cases violation of Section 83A of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1976 could be seen.
For example, some participating parties did not abide by the prescribed sizes for posters 2 feet x 3 feet, b) hoardings 3 feet x 5 feet, c) banners 3 feet x 9 feet and d) leaflets/handbills 9 inces x 6 inches. Similarly, rallies and meetings were held in manners different from prescribed in the law.
In Karachi, tolerance was shown throughout the election campaigns and political parties confined themselves to their programme. There was atmosphere of accommodation and understanding for each othe,r despite political and ideological differences.
Arrangements to ensure fair and peaceful elections have been made and law enforcement personnel have been posted at sensitive locations. There is patrolling of police mobile vans and rangers and people are being warned to desist from taking law and order into their hands.
There are strict instructions to remain away from polling stations and to avoid any kind of protest after the election results have been announced.
To help the voters in finding their names, serial number and polling stations, and polling booths, candidates have pitched tents, away from polling stations. There will be political workers to help voters. Polling will begin at 9 am and end at 5 pm.
The government has announced public holiday on February 18, Monday, to facilitate polling process. Educational institutions will remain closed on Tuesday as well.
The print and electronic media in the private sector have made their independent arrangement to cover the entire election process. However, Press Information Department, Karachi, has set up 10 media teams in Karachi, while Hyderabad has set up five media teams to facilitate journalists to cover the event.
There are restrictions on telecasting/publishing result by independent media till the results are given out by one of the officials responsible in the process of elections, but newsmen as usual have criticised these restrictions.
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