Voting for by-elections has commenced in 21 constituencies across the national and provincial assemblies of the country. The polling for five seats of the national assembly and 16 seats of the provincial assembly started at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm without any breaks. The constituencies of the National Assembly where by-elections are being held include two in Punjab, two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one in Sindh.
The by-elections for the seats of provincial assemblies include 12 seats of the Punjab Assembly, and two seats each of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies.
The Election Commission’s request to deploy the civil armed forces and the army has been approved by the federal government. Police security will be the first tier of security, civil armed forces will be the second, while the Pakistan Army personnel will perform duties in the third tier. On the other hand, mobile phone services will remain suspended in some districts of Balochistan and Punjab during the by-elections.
According to the announcement issued by the PTA, in the light of the instructions of the Ministry of Interior and the government, mobile phone service will be temporarily suspended in some districts of Punjab and Balochistan during the by-polls. The statement said that the decision to suspend the mobile phone service has been taken to complete the election process uninterrupted and transparently.
