- The general elections in Pakistan have ended, but there has been violence and a mobile service outage. In certain constituencies, the polls were kept open for two hours.
- According to reports, a minimum of nine people were killed nationwide in attacks by alleged armed groups, which includes two kids and six security personnel.
- Voters selected two legislators, one at the federal level and the other at the provincial level, to represent their constituency.
- The largest opposition party’s leader, former prime minister Imran Khan, was the target of a significant crackdown, raising suspicions about the polls’ impartiality.
When are the results going to be released?
The two-hour extension granted to certain constituencies is going to expire as it is nearly 7 p.m. (14:00 GMT) in Pakistan. The vote count has begun, and it is anticipated that unofficial and partial results will surface at some point during the evening.
Senior official for the Election Commission Haroon Shinwari stated that full results will begin to come in from cities after 10 p.m. (17:00 GMT), but he cautioned that there may be a delay in more rural, remote areas.
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How are elections held in Pakistan conducted?
Here are some details regarding the operation of the electoral system: In Pakistan, which is a parliamentary democracy, elections were held to fill positions in the four provincial or state assemblies as well as the national legislature, known as the National Assembly.
Out of the 241 million people living in this Islamic country, about 128 million were old enough to vote. The polls closed at 5 p.m. (12:00 GMT), although some regions were given a two-hour extension.
12,695 candidates are running for the provinces, and 5,121 are running for the federal legislature.
The 336 seats in the National Assembly are distributed as follows: 266 are chosen by direct election on election day, and the remaining 70 seats, 60 reserved for women alongside 10 for non-Muslims, are distributed based on the relative strength of the parties in the house. The National Assembly is composed of the candidates who win. Following the election, independent candidates are free to affiliate with any party.
After it is established, the National Assembly chooses its leader of the house, who then becomes the prime minister, through a parliamentary vote. The endorsement of 169 members of the house is required for a candidate to be declared victorious, or a simple majority. After winning the National Assembly, a candidate for prime minister takes the oath of office. The federal government is composed of cabinet ministers chosen by the new prime minister.
What happened during the election in Pakistan?
Here are the main events of voting day in Pakistan as of 6 p.m. (13:00 GMT): All polling places in Pakistan have closed, with the exception of those where voters are still waiting in queue and some in which the election commission has granted a two-hour extension.
Pakistan shut down mobile internet, a move that political parties and activists have condemned. Across the nation, there were at least nine bomb and gun attacks that claimed lives. Partial, unofficial results of the vote count are anticipated to surface later in the evening. The count is currently underway.
Some areas have extended the polling time.
According to local media, the Pakistani Election Commission has extended polling hours in a few locations across the country. Apart from to the extension given to certain polling places, voting is expected to end at 5 p.m. (12:00 GMT), as we previously reported. However, voters who arrive early in queue will still be able to cast ballots.
Voting has begun in Pakistan, with the CEC reporting “100% peaceful” results.
With growing militant attacks and accusations of electoral malpractice, Parliamentary elections came to an end on Thursday at 5 p.m., raising questions about the validity of the results and the possibility that deep political divisions would result in the formation of a coalition government.
In the meantime, whole country shut down mobile phone service nationwide on Thursday, citing the need to maintain law and order amid the expected chaos surrounding the controversial elections.
In the National Assembly, the first floor of parliament, twenty-four political parties are vying for 266 seats, with an additional 70 seats set aside for women and minorities. Approximately 18,000 candidates are running for seats available in the national as well as four provincial assemblies.
Ninety thousand polling places around the nation are accessible from 8:00 am (0300 GMT) to 5:00 pm, with over 650,000 police, army, and paramilitary personnel manning the polls.
As a result of the passing of candidates running for office, elections in three provincial assembly seats and one national assembly constituency have been postponed. PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat), PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan), and NA-8 (Bajaur) are among them. Voters in other areas will vote twice, once for each assembly.
A prime minister will be chosen by the recently elected parliament after the election. In the event that no party wins a majority, a coalition government may be formed by the party holding the majority of assembly seats. The incoming administration will, however, face formidable obstacles, such as handling internal unrest, dealing with a dire economic crisis, and combating illegal immigration. With the rupee plunging for the last three years, inflation is surging at nearly thirty percent, and a large balance of payments shortfall that has caused a halt to imports has severely impeded industrial growth.
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