Pakistan's election commission receives petitions seeking delay of polls on Feb 8

Islamabad: Two separate petitions seeking the postponement of general elections in Pakistan on February 8 landed before the election commission, citing growing terror threats and inclement weather.

The petitions, filed by individuals hailing from the restive Balochistan province, cited security issues and snowfall in several districts as reasons to seek the postponement of elections, the Dawn newspaper reported.

One of the petitions filed by Meena Majeed, a general councillor from Mand tehsil of Kech district through Advocate Fatima Nazar, stated Balochistan was grappling with heightened security concerns.

“Specifically, the Mek­ran division has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities, ranging from target killings of innocent daily wage earners to alarming incidents such as IED blasts and women suicide bombing,” it stated.

The impact was most pronounced in districts such as Kech and Gwadar, where 61 acts of terrorism during the last three months alone claimed 32 lives, it read.

According to the plea, the challenging geographical terrain of Balochistan, characterised by scattered populations residing in far-flung villages amidst mountains adds to the complexity.

“This topography coupled with inadequate road infrastructure and poor connectivity presents a formidable obstacle to implementing effective security measures and ensuring the feasibility of free and fair elections”, it added.

The petitioner urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to accept the instant petition, postpone polling in Kech and announce a fresh suitable and appropriate schedule for election within district Kech, enabling the people to exercise their constitutional right to cast a vote, in the interest of justice.

The other petition, filed by Toor Gul Khan Jogezai from district Kila Saifullah Khan through Advocate Azizullah Kakakhel, pointed out that many districts and divisions in the country face heavy snowfall in winter which affects the daily routine of residents.

As a result, elections could not be held in such areas, since the inhabitants of these areas were either displaced or limited, until the month of May or the restoration of normal life.

It stated if elections were held in such areas, it was feared that the provincial or national assembly candidates would either lose their vote bank or voters would lose their votes in favour of their candidates as the case may be.

Hence, it is need of time that the election be postponed to any other suitable time through which the citizens of such an area could participate in a free and fair election and elect representatives according to their choice of constituency, the petition read.

Interestingly, the ECP has already rejected the reports of delay in general elections, and non-preparation of electoral rolls and decided to take legal action against those spreading “misleading” news.

ECP spokesperson Haroon Shinwari said the news of delay in elections in media circles was “absolutely baseless and misleading”, and that the news of non-preparation of electoral rolls was false.

“The Election Commission has decided to approach Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) against those spreading such false news so that legal action can be taken against those spreading such misleading news,” he maintained.

According to an ECP spokesman, the printing of updated electoral rolls for the upcoming general polls is already underway at Nadra offices, while the transportation of the lists to different districts has been started.