A third application seeking postponement of the general elections has been filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A citizen, named Shakir Khan, has requested the postponement of the elections on the pretext of concerns of public disorder and extreme weather. Advocate Azizuddin Kakakhel filed the application on behalf of Shakir Khan.
The application maintained that the law and order situation in Kohlu was being managed by the FC, which has now moved to the borders. The local government elections of February 2023 also had to be postponed due to terrorism, as terrorists had entered the FC building and started making videos of the attack.
The Levies personnel are not capable of preventing the free movement of terrorists, it stated, adding that in the Kahan tehsil, terrorists had distributed pamphlets to stop the election process.
The application also stated that most of the districts and divisions will be blanketed under heavy snowfall in February and it is the responsibility of the chief election commissioner to provide equal opportunities to all voters.
According to the security and weather conditions, the general elections should be postponed for another suitable time.
Earlier, two other petitions were filed before the ECP, both by people from Balochistan, seeking postponement of the elections, citing security issues and snowfall in several districts as the reasons.
One of the petitions was filed by Meena Majeed, a general councillor from Mand tehsil of Kech district, saying Balochistan was faced with grave security concerns.
“Specifically, the Makran division has witnessed a surge in terrorist activities, ranging from target killings of innocent daily wage earners to alarming incidents such as IED blasts and women suicide bombing,” the application filed through Advocate Fatima Nazar stated.
The impact was most pronounced in districts Kech and Gwadar, where 61 terrorist activities in the last three months had claimed 32 lives.
According to the applicant, the geographical terrain of Balochistan added to the difficulty.
“This topography, coupled with inadequate road infrastructure and poor connectivity, presents a formidable obstacle to implementing effective security measures and ensuring the feasibility of free and fair elections," it added.
Meena Majeed urged the ECP to postpone elections in Kech and announce a fresh schedule within the district
The other petition, filed by Toor Gul Khan Jogezai from Kila Saifullah district, mentioned that many areas in the country faced heavy snowfall in winters that affected the daily routine of the residents.
As a result, the elections could not be held in such areas, as the residents were either displaced or limited until May or the situation returned to normalcy.
