ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military fanned out across the country ahead of Wednesday’s election, deploying hundreds of thousands of troops to oversee polling stations in a short but acrimonious contest that analysts say is still “up for grabs.”
Armed soldiers watched closely as election officials in the capital Islamabad Tuesday distributed ballot boxes and voting materials for polling stations across the city. The military has stationed over 370,000 personnel nationwide to ensure the vote goes smoothly — the largest such deployment in Pakistan’s history on an election day. It has said the soldiers will work with local law enforcement to ensure “a safe and secure environment” for voting.
An additional 450,000 police were also assigned to provide security, according to election officials. The mammoth deployment coupled with a recent decision by election authorities to grant military officers broad powers inside polling centers has stirred fears of possible manipulation.
The military presence is just the latest controversy in a bitter campaign season that has seen accusations of “pre-poll rigging,” the expansion of hard-line religious parties, and a string of bloody militant attacks that have killed more than 180 people, including three candidates.
At a distribution center in Lahore, election workers complained of general discord and delays in the delivery of ballot boxes.
A day before the polls, voters were largely split in Lahore, the capital of Punjab — Pakistan’s most populous province and long a Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) stronghold that is being fiercely challenged by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI).
“I am supporting Imran Khan because he is the best choice for Pakistan. We should give him a chance,” said Muhammad Wasim, 32, pointing to what he described as the success Khan’s party has had in governing northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
Others cited the improvements in infrastructure under the PML-N in the sprawling city in the east of the country, vowing to stick by the party hit by several corruption convictions ahead of the election.
“They have served the masses, they have put an end to... (power cuts) and given us better facilities including roads, transport and education,” said shopkeeper Muhammad Nawaz, 45.
Political parties held their final rallies Monday night — before campaigning was suspended — in a last-ditch attempt to energize voters.
“I am giving this task to all of you: Wake up early on the 25th and cast your vote,” Khan told thousands of PTI faithful in Lahore.
In southern Punjab, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif — the former premier’s brother — said victory was “certain.” “Despite all the odds, PML-N is winning the July 25 polls,” he was quoted as saying by Pakistani media.
Imran addressed four rallies in Lahore and Shahbaz concluded his party’s election campaign by addressing a public gathering in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab. All recent polls and surveys have predicted a tough competition at the national level between the PTI and PML-N, though leadership of both these parties have predicted their victory in the elections during their recent addresses to public gatherings.
The PTI chairman addressed 61 public gatherings, followed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto with 44 and Shahbaz with 30 during the election campaign. None of them, however, visited Balochistan for the canvassing owing to security concerns.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a total of 3,674 candidates will contest 272 general seats of the National Assembly, while 8,400 are running for 577 general seats of the four provincial assemblies.
Pakistan’s National Assembly is a democratically elected body comprising a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected, 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities.
A total of 105.6 million registered voters will exercise their right to vote on Wednesday in all four provinces of the country. The ECP has set up 85,307 polling stations across the country including 23,424 male, 21,707 female, 40,133 combined and 43 improvised ones to ensure a better turnout on the polling day.
Prof. Tahir Malik, political analyst and academic, said that traditional enthusiasm and passion for the election campaign was marred by deteriorating law and order in the country as more than 200 innocents, including three election candidates, had been killed in separate suicide attacks.
“The ball is now in the court of the people. They must come out in large numbers to elect honest and truthful candidates,” he told Arab News.
Malik said Pakistan can witness true democracy only if all the institutions work in their predefined constitutional limits and “the public is allowed to elect their candidates through ballot without any fear.”
Military deployed across Pakistan as candidates urge masses to vote
Military deployed across Pakistan as candidates urge masses to vote
- The military presence is just the latest controversy in a bitter campaign season that has seen accusations of “pre-poll rigging,” the expansion of hard-line religious parties, and a string of bloody militant attacks that have killed more than 180 people
- A total of 105.6 million registered voters will exercise their right to vote on Wednesday in all four provinces of the country
Ground invasion of Rafah would be ‘intolerable,’ UN chief warns
- Israel has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them children and women, according to Gaza health officials
UNITED NATIONS, United States: A ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday, calling on Israel and Hamas “to go an extra mile” to reach a ceasefire deal.
“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impact in the region,” Guterres said as he received Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
UK military personnel’s data accessed in hack, BBC reports
- MPs could be informed about the development in the Commons on Tuesday
Some personal information in a payroll system used by Britain’s defense department has been accessed in a data breach, the BBC reported on Monday.
The system was managed by an external contractor and no operational Ministry of Defense data was obtained, the broadcaster said, adding that the department took the system off-line immediately.
Information like names and bank details of current and some former members of the Royal Navy, Army and Air Force was compromised, according to the report.
The Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment outside working hours.
MPs could be informed about the development in the Commons on Tuesday, the report added.
Russia says it takes control of two more settlements in eastern Ukraine
- Russia has made slow but steady advances since taking Avdiivka in February, with a string of villages in the area falling to Moscow’s forces
MOSCOW: Russian forces have taken control of the settlements of Soloviove in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and Kotliarivka further north in the Kharkiv region, the defense ministry said on Monday.
Ukraine’s military made no mention of either locality in its evening General Staff report. Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Monday that Kotliarivka, located near the town of Kupiansk, was one of several locations to come under Russian shelling.
But Ukrainian bloggers appeared to acknowledge that both villages were in Russian hands.
DeepState, a popular forum on the war, noted on Saturday that Kotliarivka had been captured by Russian forces and on Sunday said the neighboring village of Kyslivka was also in Russian hands.
DeepState reported that Soloviove, northwest of the Russian-held town of Avdiivka, had been taken by Russian forces last week.
Russia has made slow but steady advances since taking Avdiivka in February, with a string of villages in the area falling to Moscow’s forces.
UNICEF warns 600,000 children face ‘catastrophe’ in Rafah
- Calling again for a ceasefire and safe access for humanitarian organizations, the agency highlighted there are some 78,000 infants under age two sheltering in the city, along with 175,000 children under five who are affected by infectious disease
- Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory
NEW YORK: Some 600,000 children packed into Gaza’s Rafah city face “further catastrophe,” UNICEF warned on Monday, urging against their forced relocation after Israel ordered an evacuation ahead of its long-threatened ground invasion.
“Given the high concentration of children in Rafah ... UNICEF is warning of a further catastrophe for children, with military operations resulting in very high civilian casualties and the few remaining basic services and infrastructure they need to survive being totally destroyed,” the UN children’s agency said in a statement.
It said Gaza’s youth were already “on the edge of survival,” with many in Rafah — where the agency said the population has soared to 1.2 million people, half of them children — already displaced multiple times and with nowhere else to go.
“More than 200 days of war have taken an unimaginable toll on the lives of children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“Rafah is now a city of children, who have nowhere safe to go in Gaza,” she said, warning that a large-scale military operation by Israel would bring “chaos and panic, and at a time where (children’s) physical and mental states are already weakened.”
UNICEF estimates that Rafah’s population has swelled to nearly five times its normal figure of 250,000 residents.
Calling again for a ceasefire and safe access for humanitarian organizations, the agency highlighted there are some 78,000 infants under age two sheltering in the city, along with 175,000 children under five who are affected by infectious disease.
Gaza’s bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas’s unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Israel has conducted a retaliatory offensive that has killed at least 34,735 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run
territory’s Health Ministry.
Of that toll, more than 14,000 are children, the ministry has said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops into Rafah regardless of any truce, despite concerns from the US, other countries, and aid groups.
Hamas official Izzat Al-Rashiq said in a statement that any Israeli operation in Rafah would put the truce talks in jeopardy.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the evacuation order was a “dangerous escalation” that would have consequences.
“The US administration, alongside the occupation, bears responsibility for this terrorism,” the official said.
Hamas said later in a statement that any offensive in Rafah would not be a “picnic” for Israeli forces and said it was fully prepared to defend Palestinians there.
Aid agencies have warned that the evacuation order will lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster in the crowded coastal enclave of 2.3 million people reeling from seven months of war.
“Forcing 1 million displaced Palestinians from Rafah to evacuate without a safe destination is not only unlawful but would lead to catastrophic consequences,” British charity ActionAid said.
Nick Maynard, a British surgeon trying to leave Gaza on Monday, said in a voice message from the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt: “Two huge bombs have just gone off immediately outside the crossing. There’s a lot of gunfire as well about 100 meters from us. We are very unclear whether we will get out.”
“Driving through Rafah, the tension was palpable with people evacuating as rapidly as they could.”
Witnesses said the areas in and around Rafah where Israel wants to move people are already crowded with little room for more tents.
“The biggest genocide, the biggest catastrophe, will take place in Rafah. I call on the whole Arab world to interfere for a ceasefire — let them interfere and save us from what we are in,” said Aminah Adwan, a displaced Palestinian.
Israel has been threatening to launch incursions in Rafah, which it says harbors thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of hostages.
Victory is impossible without taking Rafah, it says.
New York’s Columbia University cancels graduation ceremony as students remain defiant
- Pro-Palestinian protests put paid to event planned for May 15
NEW YORK: New York’s prestigious Columbia University has announced that it is canceling its main graduation ceremony, scheduled for next week, because of ongoing pro-Palestinian protests.
The announcement on Monday is the latest development in a movement that began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia and has swept college campuses nationwide.
The graduation ceremony had been scheduled for May 15 on the south lawn of the Manhattan campus, where protest encampments had been based before authorities dismantled them last week.
The Ivy League institution said it would “forego the university-wide ceremony” and hold a series of smaller events instead.
“We are determined to give our students the celebration they deserve, and that they want,” Columbia announced, saying “smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families.”
The university added: “We will focus our resources on those school ceremonies and on keeping them safe, respectful, and running smoothly. A great deal of effort is already underway to reach that goal.”
Students across the US have protested and set up tents at dozens of universities to register their opposition to the war in Gaza, while calling on President Joe Biden to do more to stop the bloodshed.
They have also demanded their institutions cease supporting companies that support Israel’s government.
Maya James, a psychology student at Columbia, told Arab News: “Seeing the university’s really insane response to student protests has brought so many people together, because I feel like most people on this campus can agree, including faculty, that students should not be penalized for expressing their First Amendment rights to protest, to petition, to do all of these things we’ve been encouraged to do for so long.”
She called on the university to give amnesty to students who had been suspended for expressing their First Amendment rights, which protect freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition.
James also called on the university to disclose its investments because as “of right now there’s no visibility for us students to be able to know what the university is expected to do.”
She described the “vibes” at the protest sites as “absolutely remarkable,” with cultural and educational programs being offered and all kinds of activities being held.
She said the demonstrations were a continuation of Columbia’s long tradition of protest which began in the 1960s with its opposition to the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War.
James said it was “incredible” to see the solidarity for the Palestinian cause spread in campuses across the US, and people pushing to ensure “that we do indeed see a free Palestine within our lifetime and that our universities are no longer complicit in the genocide.”
Demonstrators have gathered on at least 40 US university campuses since April 17, often erecting tent camps to protest against the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 2,000 people have been detained, according to the US media.
Police officers have forcibly ended several student sit-ins in recent days, including one at New York University at the request of its administrators.
Demonstrators had barricaded themselves inside Columbia, the epicenter of student protests in New York, and some complained about police brutality when officers cleared the faculty.
(With Agencies)
