Voting in by-elections for 20 seats of the Punjab provincial assembly is reaching a close, with some sporadic cases of violence and accusations of wrongdoing marring the polling process. Some 52,000 police personnel were deployed through the polling process, and the military conducted reconnaissance of ‘sensitive’ areas to ensure security.
In Lahore’s PP-158 constituency, political activists from rival parties clashed at a polling station. There have also been claims of purchasing votes in the southern Punjab regions of Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan. Meanwhile, PTI leader Shahbaz Gill has been arrested by Punjab Police for visiting polling stations with his private guards allegedly dressed as FC security personnel. PTI leaders including Imran Khan have described the action against Gill as “fascist tactics.”
Security deployed includes personnel from the paramilitary Rangers, the Frontier Constabulary and the Pakistan Army. Earlier, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had explained the role of the military in this process. According to the military’s media affairs wing, troops would serve in “only quick reaction force duties in case of any law-and-order situation arising during polling.” The Election Commission of Pakistan has tasked the military with providing a third-tier security response in case of any law-and-order problems.
In Lahore’s PP-158 constituency, political activists from rival parties clashed at a polling station. There have also been claims of purchasing votes in the southern Punjab regions of Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan. Meanwhile, PTI leader Shahbaz Gill has been arrested by Punjab Police for visiting polling stations with his private guards allegedly dressed as FC security personnel. PTI leaders including Imran Khan have described the action against Gill as “fascist tactics.”
Security deployed includes personnel from the paramilitary Rangers, the Frontier Constabulary and the Pakistan Army. Earlier, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) had explained the role of the military in this process. According to the military’s media affairs wing, troops would serve in “only quick reaction force duties in case of any law-and-order situation arising during polling.” The Election Commission of Pakistan has tasked the military with providing a third-tier security response in case of any law-and-order problems.