ISLAMABAD: For fair by-elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan called for the deployment of army personnel at all polling stations in the country on August 22, not just the “sensitive” ones identified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a statement sent to The Express Tribune.

In terms of rigging, all polling stations across the country could be categorised as “sensitive”, Imran pointed out.

Imran said the polling staff drawn from the provincial bureaucracies had failed to maintain the sanctity of the ballot during the May 11 election and therefore it was essential to have the army present at all the polling stations.
He reiterated that PTI would not tolerate a repeat of the irregularities and rigging that had marred the May 11 election.

The by-elections for 16 National Assembly seats and 26 provincial assembly seats across the country will be held August 22. Most of these seats were vacated by the members who had won from more than one constituency in the May 11 general elections.

Of the 7,622 polling stations to be set up for the by-elections, 3,644 have been declared ‘sensitive’, with 1,657 falling in the category of ‘highly sensitive’, revealed the figures.

A total of 180 candidates are vying for 15 Punjab Assembly seats, 82 for four Sindh Assembly seats, 32 for three Balochistan Assembly seats and 27 for four Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly seats.


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