INDIAPAK TIES: IMRAN IS AN UNTESTED ENTITY
31 dead in suicide attack in Quetta claimed by Islamic State
NEW DELHI: Will a new government in Pakistan bring any change to the frosty relationship between India and its western neighbour?
The results of a neckand-neck election pitting Imran Khan’s PTI against two entrenched parties, PML-N and PPP, hold immense interest and importance for India. Experts say Khan is an untested entity and the backing he has from the Pakistan army and his support to Islamist voices have given rise to apprehensions that he would take a harder position on engagement with India .
ISLAMABAD: At least 35 people were killed and 44 others injured in separate incidents of election-related violence across Pakistan on Wednesday.
In Quetta, 31 people including five police officials were killed and 30 injured in a suicide attack on a police convoy. The bombing was claimed by the Islamic State.
A rocket attack at Balochistan National Party (BNP)-Awami’s electoral camp near Bonistan in Panjgur district left one person dead. One person was killed and two others injured in an exchange of fire between rivals at a polling station in Swabi, a town located in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Thousands of police and military personnel were deployed to secure the polls as voters cast ballots in schools, colleges and community centres. Observers said the turnout was higher than expected in many parts of the country while in Karachi it was lower than the 2013 elections, as a faction of the MQM party had announced a boycott.
A total of 105.95 million eligible voters exercised their right of franchise to elect 270 members of the National Assembly and a total of 570 members of four provincial assemblies for a five-year term (2018-2023). Over 12,500 candidates were contesting.
The Election Commission of Pakistan had established 83,307 polling stations of which 17,000 were declared as sensitive. Around 770,000 security presonnel were deployed at the polling stations.
This includes 180,000 regular army and 190,000 reserve troops and some 449,465 police personnel.
As many as 53,000 international, national and local observers and media persons will monitor the election process. But many observers claimed they were not given access to polling stations especially in rural areas.
At least 25 transgender observers were barred from entering polling stations across Peshawar despite being issued cards by the election commission. The poll body so far received 600 complaints from all over Pakistan regarding the elections.
Sporadic incidents of violence hampered the otherwise smooth process of balloting. In Karachi’s polling stations, voters complained of army personnel controlling entry points.
The ECP said that media discussions pertaining to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif were a violation of ECP code of conduct. PML-N leader Khawaja Asif’s press talk after casting his vote was declared a violation of the code of conduct.
Imran Khan’s NA-53 vote may now be cancelled as he was captured on video while casting his vote.