Feb 08, 2024 – 16:16 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Bilawal Bhutto demands restoration of internet services
Mobile phone services were stopped earlier today in advance of the election; PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has urged that they be restored “immediately.” Additionally, he stated that he has asked his party to file similar requests with the courts and ECP.
Feb 08, 2024 – 16:01 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Clash outside polling station in Multan
A fight broke out between two groups outside a polling place in Multan’s NA-149 seat, resulting in punches and kicks being exchanged. A second police contingent was dispatched to Karim Town after the event, according to a report by Dawn News.
Feb 08, 2024 – 15:53 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Internet outage has increased chances of rigging, claims Jamaat-i-Islami
The Karachi branch of Jamaat-i-Islami has asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to promptly bring back internet access.
“The chances of rigging have greatly increased with the shutdown of mobile and internet services. The election commission should take notice and restore the service,” the party said in a statement on social media.
Feb 08, 2024 – 15:37 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Rights body demands restoration of internet, cellular services across Pakistan
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has urged the authprities to ensure the rapid reinstatement of cellphone and internet services throughout the nation.
“The ongoing disruption to services has occurred despite the Sindh High Court’s direction to the caretaker government to ensure uninterrupted internet services on polling day. With the PTA claiming it has received no instructions from the government to block internet services, there is a worrying lack of transparency about where, when and how long the disruption will continue, thereby affecting voters’ right to information and potentially the transmission of results,” the HRCP said in a statement on social media platform X.
It further stated that the perpetrators of the outages have to be found and held accountable.
Feb 08, 2024 – 15:17 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Taliban have taken over polling booth in Waziristan, says chairman of NDM
Mohsin Dawar, the head of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) and a former member of the national assembly, informed the CEC in a letter that the Taliban had “taken over the polling stations” in NA-40, Tappi, North Waziristan.
“We have also filed an application with the police against an attack there on three of our female polling agents,” Dawar was quoted as saying by the Dawn.
Feb 08, 2024 – 15:07 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
PPP approaches Election Commission of Pakistan against internet suspension
According to Dawn, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said, “(The) normal functionality of mobile services should be restored. Suspension of mobile services will impact voter turnout along with the security of the people if incidents of violence were to happen.”
Pakistan suspended mobile phone services across the nation on Thursday as the general election commenced, citing the need to preserve order amidst anticipated unrest surrounding the contentious polls.
Feb 08, 2024 – 15:02 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Will not direct Interior Ministry to restore internet: Pak CEC Raja
Pakistan’s Chief electoral Commissioner (CEC), Sikandar Sultan Raja, stated that the internet shutdown was not the electoral body’s “mandate” and that it would not direct the interior minister to restore internet and mobile connection.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:59 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Election results to be released between 8-9pm: Pak CEC Raja
A report by GeoNews citing Pakistan Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said election results could be released between 8 to 9pm.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:50 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
As Pakistan votes, farmers want climate change action – not words
Aamer Hayat Bhandara, a Pakistani farmer tending to his wilting wheat crop after months of drought and pollution, said his biggest hope for Thursday’s election is that whoever wins follows through on a flurry of campaign pledges to address climate change.
The two front-runners, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have both advocated similar climate measures in their manifestos, showing increased worry about the impacts of global warming following the deadly 2022 floods.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:35 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Human Rights Council of Pakistan demands restoration of internet services
The Human Rights Council of Pakistan has asked that mobile and internet connections be restored in the nation ahead of the parliamentary election on Thursday.
“The government of Pakistan is shutting down mobile service and internet services in various cities of Pakistan. This is sad and cause for concern,” remarked Pakistan’s Human Rights Council, as reported by news agency PTI.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:29 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
4 police officials killed in bomb blast, shooting
According to Reuters, four police officers were killed in a bomb blast and gunfire in northwest Pakistan.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:19 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Explosion in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been reported
According to Al Jazeera, an explosion in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been reported.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:18 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Imran Khan’s party says its polling agents picked by police in Punjab province
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party alleged on Thursday that polling in various districts of Pakistan’s Punjab province began without its agents, some of whom were chosen by the police to facilitate election manipulation.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates are running independently after the Supreme Court upheld the electoral commission’s decision to strip his party of its famous election symbol, the cricket ‘bat’. The PTI claimed that the police removed its voting stations.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:14 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa voter turnout at dismal ‘9 percent’
According to Dawn editor (Kyber Pakhtunkhwa) Ismail Khan, voter participation in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province averaged nine percent as of 11:30 a.m.
Feb 08, 2024 – 14:05 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Taliban take over poll booth, 3 women voting agents targeted in bomb attack in N. Waziristan
Taliban have taken over polling stations in Tappi (North Waziristan) and attacked three female polling agents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the ongoing general elections. However, the three women escaped the blast very narrowly, according to reports.
Pakistan-based National Democratic Movement (NDM) Chairman Mohsin Dawar highlighted that three female polling agents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tappi have been attacked by the Taliban.
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Feb 08, 2024 – 14:02 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Polling yet to start at Lahore NA 129, claims PTI leader
The Secretary-General and Acting President of the Punjab PTI chapter, Hammad Azhar, said that polling had not yet begun at the NA 129 booth in the province’s Lahore.
Feb 08, 2024 – 13:54 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Poll body tells media regulator to warn channels violating code of conduct
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked Pemra, the country’s electronic media regulating organisation, to issue a warning to Geo News and ARY News for repeatedly breaking the code of conduct.
Feb 08, 2024 – 13:36 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Polling operations faced delays due to technical glitches
Polling procedures at numerous locations around the nation have been delayed significantly due to a variety of technical and logistical issues, impeding the start of the election process, according to Pakistan-based Samaa.
The provision of vital voting materials in Hyderabad’s NA-220 seat is still waiting, hindering the deployment of polling personnel that is critical to the NA-220 election procedures.
Feb 08, 2024 – 13:20 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Nawaz Sharif reaches polling station in Lahore to cast his vote
Feb 08, 2024 – 13:18 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
President Alvi urges nation to vote, calls it ‘constitutional, civic responsibility’
Feb 08, 2024 – 12:55 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Pakistan closes land borders to secure voting
Pakistan briefly stopped mobile phone services across the country on Thursday and blocked certain land crossings to ensure peace and order as voting began in a national election marked by an increase in terrorist violence.
Feb 08, 2024 – 12:33 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
ECP says central monitoring ‘fully functional’ to supervise elections
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), contact between the central election monitoring control centre in Islamabad and its equivalents at the district and regional levels is “constant” and the centre is “fully functional.”
Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja was on site to oversee the voting process, according to a news release issued by Haroon Khan Shinwari, the person in command of the monitoring facility.
Feb 08, 2024 – 12:29 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Mobile phone services must be restored ‘immediately’, says Bilawal Bhutto
Feb 08, 2024 – 12:28 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Govt’s decision to suspend internet will affect transparency of election, says rights group
Fearing incidents of terrorism amid the ongoing Pakistan elections, the government suspended mobile and internet services across the country on Thursday, 8 February.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Pakistan’s interior ministry said the recent surge of terrorist incidents made it necessary to “shut down mobile services nationwide temporarily to maintain the law and order situation and tackle threats.”
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Feb 08, 2024 – 12:04 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Security ensured as voting underway in Karachi’s district Central: SSP
In Karachi’s district Central, voting has begun, according to SSP District Central Zeeshan Shafique Siddiqui.
He stated that over 2.1 million people are exercising their right to vote at 1,255 polling places and 391 voting structures, and that police have made the necessary security precautions for this.
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:49 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Voter turnout historically low
Despite its large population, Pakistan has always had very low voter turnout.
Only twice since 1985 has the percentage of voters who participated in the polls exceeded 50%: in 2013 (54%) and in 2018 (51%).
Among the 128 million people who have registered to vote this year, almost 45% are between the ages of 18 and 35.
Election records show that, starting in 1997, the percentage of voters between the ages of 18 and 30 never exceeded 40%, with the highest percentage recorded in 2018.
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:39 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
‘We are all in this together & we will win together,’ says PTI after govt bans mobile services on election day
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:34 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Pakistanis say vote matters despite alleged election rigging
Pakistanis who arrived early for the election on Thursday expressed confidence in the validity of their ballots, even in the face of accusations of vote-rigging in the country’s most contentious poll to date.
“I believe in democracy and I think my vote matters,” said 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq, among the first to vote in the capital Islamabad.
“I cast my vote as it’s my duty,” she told AFP inside a polling station. “I wish for a deserving party to come to power.”
128 million eligible voters cast ballots, and the first voters arrived at the Noorpur Shahan girl’s school at 8:00 am (0300 GMT) to ink their fingers and stamp papers in booths designated for each gender.
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:29 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Central monitoring centre in Islamabad ‘fully functional’ to supervise countrywide elections: ECP
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), contact between the central election monitoring control centre in Islamabad and its equivalents at the district and regional levels is “constant” and the centre is “fully functional.”
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:26 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Internet blackouts now in effect in multiple regions of Pakistan, reports Netblocks
Internet monitor Netblocks has said that real-time data shows that internet blackouts are now in effect in “multiple regions of Pakistan in addition to mobile network disruptions”.
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:26 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
3 polling agents attacked in Tappi, says Mohsin Dawar
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:20 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Provincial government adopts strict security measures for voters in Quetta province
In the aftermath of yesterday’s twin explosions in Pishin and Qila Saifullah, which claimed the lives of at least 24, polling in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, began in a chilly atmosphere.
In Quetta, mobile networks are unavailable. Strict security measures have been implemented by the provincial administration for the 5.3 million voters who are registered to vote in the province.
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:10 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
‘Beginning Of Election Day Rigging’, states PPP Leader Mustafa Nawaz after mobile services suspension
PPP Leader and independent candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar commented on the suspension of mobile phone services on polling day and called it “the beginning of election day rigging.”
Feb 08, 2024 – 11:06 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Pakistan HRC expresses concern over govt decision to shut down mobile service, internet
The government’s proposal to discontinue internet and mobile service in a number of cities has alarmed Pakistan’s Human Rights Council.
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:57 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
‘Pakistan general elections predictable, rigged,’ says Former High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria
Former High Commissioner of India To Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria believes that the elections are rigged and the outcome predictable.
“From all accounts, these elections on 8th February are not just the most predictable, but also the most rigged, because it’s clear for everyone in Pakistan if you see the commentary that is coming from within the country, that the election results are clear, the army in various ways is doing pre-election engineering, it will probably do some election engineering and post-election engineering to get a government that it wants in place. It is said that it will possibly be a selection of Nawaz Sharif and his PMLN party, I think that is a widespread expectation, and that’s fairly accurate” Bisaria said.
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:49 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Asad Umar tells Pakistanis to use their ‘power’ and vote
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:41 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Many Pakistanis make a perilous journey to vote
The general election in Pakistan is taking place against the backdrop of increased worries over security and a revival of violence by Islamist militants, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
At least 26 people were slain in two bombings targeting political party headquarters in the southwest region of Balochistan on Wednesday, as ethnic militants there have increased their assaults.
According to data from the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, since polls were declared in November, there have been over eighteen attacks across Pakistan on political leaders and workers, with 10 of those incidents occurring in KP alone.
Voters travelling to cast their ballots do not have any extra security, even though law enforcement has tightened security measures for polling places.
The TTP militants say they do not believe in democracy and are fighting to impose a system in line with their version of Islamic teachings.
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:37 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
1 policeman killed in firing on polling station in Pakistan’s Tank region
According to Reuters, one policeman was allegedly killed in firing on a polling station in Pakistan’s Tank region.
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:32 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Nawaz Sharif to be PM candidate if PML-N voted to power, says Shehbaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif would be PML-N’s prime ministerial candidate if the party gains a majority in parliament in the ongoing Pakistan elections 2024, his brother Shehbaz Sharif said.
As per several surveys conducted recently, the Nawaz Sharif-led party – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – is ahead of rivals including Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Bilawal Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
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Feb 08, 2024 – 10:24 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Security concerns remain as polling starts
To guarantee that this election is peaceful, around 650,000 security personnel—including regular military troops and police paramilitary elements—have been deployed.
There are serious security issues. Due to security concerns, Pakistan has closed both its border with Iran and its border with Afghanistan at Torkham.
Mobile and internet services are both momentarily interrupted. There has been opposition to the idea that restricting internet and mobile access will damage the government’s standing. The public desires free and fair elections.
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:22 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Murtaza Solangi casts his vote in Islamabad
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:20 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Aseefa Bhutto casts her vote, urges people to do same
Feb 08, 2024 – 10:06 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Shutting down internet, mobile services is decision of law and order agencies: CEC Raja
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that he hoped that the election process will be “free and fair” and will conclude safely. He stressed that shutting down or allowing internet and mobile services was beyond the ECP’s mandate.
He further said that the ECP did not give any instructions to the interior ministry regarding internet services. “This is the decision of the law and order agencies. We can only give our recommendations,” he said.
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:58 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
PTA’s ‘flip-flop’ on blocking internet services an ‘infuriating betrayal’
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:57 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Suspension of mobile phone services ‘ominous’ start to election day, says analyst Michael Kugelman
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:56 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
People ‘robbed of access to information’ due to suspension of mobile services, says PTI’s Hammad Azhar
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:53 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Former PM Shehbaz Sharif casts vote in Lahore’s NA-127 constituency
Shehbaz Sharif, the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, has cast his ballot at polling station 82 in Lahore’s NA-127 constituency.
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:39 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
Former PM Imran Khan, other prominent leaders cast votes from Adiala Jail by postal ballot
Imran Khan and other well-known political personalities who are incarcerated reportedly used postal ballots to cast their votes, according to Dawn.com, a Pakistani news site.
Khan was one of the people who voted through the position, along with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the former foreign minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the former chief minister of Punjab state, and Fawad Chaudhry, the former communication minister.
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:34 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
More than 6,500 police personnel deployed across Swat: DPO
The polling process has begun across Swat with security placed at all sensitive polling stations, reports Dawn News’ Murad Ali Khan.
The first vote has been cast at the polling station in Haji Baba School, he reports from Swat’s NA-3. “In all constituencies of Swat, the polling process has started. Security has been placed in great numbers at all sensitive polling stations,” he said.
“In Swat, the polling process has begun in a peaceful atmosphere. This is a national cause, it is a big day for us. Security is made foolproof after a month of homework,” Swat District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur told Dawn News.
“We have deployed more than 6,500 police personnel, along with the support from FC North and the Pakistan army,” he added.
Feb 08, 2024 – 09:31 (IST)
Pakistan Elections 2024 LIVE
More than 17,000 candidates to contest elections in Pakistan
According to Dawn, more than 17,000 candidates are running in today’s Pakistani elections.
266 candidates will be chosen by the electorate to serve in the Pakistan National Assembly, which will thereafter choose the next prime minister by majority vote.
In parallel, voters will choose delegates to each province assembly, who will thereafter choose provincial chief executives through a comparable procedure.
In the meantime, the passing of candidates has forced the postponement of elections in three provincial assembly constituencies and one national assembly constituency. PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat), PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan), and NA-8 (Bajaur) are among them. Every voter in every other location will cast two votes: one for each of the two assemblies.
