Islamabad, Feb 8 (EFE).- Thousands of Pakistani voters headed to heavily guarded polling stations on Thursday morning to elect a new government for a five-year term amid increased security threats.
According to the election body, the polling started at 8 a.m. local time and will continue until 5 p.m. The counting of millions of votes cast will start soon after polling time is over.
The delayed polls are held for the 266 seats of the National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament, and four provincial assemblies.
More than 700,000 police, paramilitary, and armed forces have been deployed across the country to deal with any untoward situation, the poll body has said.
The restive Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have been rocked by militant attacks over the last weeks in the run to the elections, mainly targeting poll offices and the candidates.
On Wednesday, at least 28 people were killed and nearly 50 injured in two blasts targeting election offices in Balochistan. Islamic State militants owned the twin attacks.
The South Asian country closed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan on the day of the polls.
“To ensure full security during the general elections to be held in Pakistan on 8 Feb 2024, border crossings with Afghanistan and Iran would remain closed both for cargo and pedestrians,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
There are more than 128 million registered voters, 59.3 million (46 percent) women and 69.2 million or 54 percent men.
More than 20 million new voters have been registered for the 2024 elections.
There are nearly 18,000 candidates out of whom 5,112 — including 4797 males, 313 women, and two transgender contestants, running for 266 contestable parliamentary seats.
The National Assembly comprises of 266 general seats, 60 non-elected reserved seats for women, and 10 non-elected seats for minorities, making a house of 336 members.
Three main political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are in the race to form a government.
However, the candidates backed by PTI are contesting as independents because the country’s Supreme Court stripped the party of its election symbol last month, effectively barring it from contesting.
Voters have queued up outside 90,582 polling stations, out of which more than 55 booths have been categorized as “sensitive” or “most sensitive,” meaning they are prone to violence.
In the last elections of 2018, a little more than half, or 51.9 percent, of voters cast their ballots. As per the official data, voter turnout for women was recorded at 44.03 percent, while for men, it remained at 55.97 percent.
The delayed elections are taking place in Pakistan when the country is facing challenges on multiple fronts, including militancy, a deteriorating economic situation, and political instability. EFE
aa-ssk
