ISLAMABAD, 26 August 2005 — Clashes between supporters of rival candidates in various parts of Pakistan left at least 19 people dead and more than 100 injured as voters went to polls in the second phase of municipal elections yesterday, sources said.
Before the polls closed at 5:00 p.m., voters in all 54 districts were able to cast their ballots. The first phase of the elections took place last week.
There were around 25,000 women candidates out of more than 100,000 people standing. As many as 30,500,000 voters from 18 districts of Punjab and 12 each in Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan exercised their right to franchise.
Federal Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed said that polling ratio would be higher than in the past.
Although the polls were officially held on a non-party basis to prevent violent incidents, in practice, many running for municipal office have behind-the-scenes backing from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party or opposition groups.
Tens of thousands of troops and police were deployed in “sensitive” areas across the country after the first phase of the vote a week ago was marred by violence and claims of rigging. However, the violence took place despite the deployment of thousands of troops at polling stations. In the first phase of the elections on Aug. 18, as many as 22 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
Yesterday, 12 deaths were reported in Punjab province, said police spokesman Malik Munir.
Five deaths were reported in Sindh, one in northwestern Pakistan, and one in the southwest, said an Interior Ministry official.
Voting was held in 54 districts of Pakistan under tight security, said Kanwar Mohammed Dilshad, an election official.
Elections to choose councilors and mayors are held every four years in the country, where municipal officials look after the welfare of communities, including supervision of schools, clinics and roads.
The elections are being seen not only as a test of President Pervez Musharraf’s bid to sideline hard-line Islamic parties, but also as a yardstick of his popularity ahead of national polls due in October 2007.
Parties loyal to Musharraf claimed victory in last week’s round of voting but opposition groups, including the party of exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto, alleged widespread electoral fraud.
The interior Ministry, which is responsible for security, said tens of thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers had patrolled the streets alongside police to prevent violence and attempts to rig the polls.
Some 60,000 security personnel had been deployed to protect the southern province of Sindh alone, officials said. The polls, which were last held in 2002, were revived as part of a series of reforms brought in by Musharraf and aimed at devolving power from Islamabad by giving it to district mayors.
Musharraf and his supporters say the new system gives power back to Pakistan’s poverty stricken grassroots. But critics call it a way of installing Musharraf cronies at every government level, and say it increases corruption. — Additional input from agencies.
