The first phase of Sindh local government in 14 districts has been completed. According to unofficial results, the provincial ruling party Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is ahead of all the parties with the highest number of winning candidates as 885 out of 946 representatives were already elected unopposed when the polling started.
The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) came second, independents third, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) fourth, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) secured the fifth position.
According to media outlets, several complaints of missing ballot papers and changes in the election symbols were reported from many districts of the province, which eventually led to chaos.
However, the provincial government ruled out such a possibility and described the demand as an “escape” from Opposition parties after they “failed” to field candidates in all districts, reports Dawn.
Voting started at 9am and ended at 5pm on Sunday. The elections in the rest of the districts of Sindh will be held next month, i.e. July 24.
Violence at the scene:
During the election polling when clashes broke out between political parties, it led to deaths and multiple injuries. Two people, including the brother of a PTI candidate, were killed and at least 20 people were injured.
PTI’s divisional president from Tando Adam, Mushtaq Junejo, said, “I can confirm the death of Qaiser, the brother of our party’s candidate Asghar Gandapur in Tando Adam.” The candidate was contesting in ward-13 of the Tando Adam municipal committee.
In Nawabshah, the situation became tense when a group of armed people attacked social security. Later, the group fled the polling station along with the election material.
Kashmore was among the most-affected districts in terms of violence.
In Durrani Mahar, reports were received that around 10 polling staff members were kidnapped. However, the issue was resolved and police tried to cover up the issue as the polling staff was only released after successful negotiations between the police and the kidnappers.
Misprinting of ballot papers:
On Sunday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that some districts had incorrect candidate names printed on the ballot papers. In a tweet, the ECP said that polls in these regions would be postponed and a new schedule would be presented for them.
