By-election NA-245 Karachi East-IV remained peaceful but lacked voters interest. Find out what Dr Amir Liaquat has got to do with it!

By-election NA-245 Karachi (East-IV) failed to fetch voters in large numbers after the seat fell vacant because of the death of Dr. Amir Liaquat’s death. A clear lack of voter interest and participation in the by-election for Karachi’s National Assembly (NA) constituency NA-245 Karachi East-IV eclipsed the peaceful and well-managed election for the constituency.

By-election NA-245 Karachi: A bit of Background  

Election for the multi-ethnic constituency was held on August 21, 2022, after the seat fell vacant due to the demise of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain, who had won the General Election in 2018 (GE-2018). The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had scheduled the by-election on July 27, 2022; however, it had to be postponed due to heavy rains in the metropolis.

With a voter turnout of only 11.8 percent, the candidates and political parties were not successful in utilizing the additional time to mobilize most of the voters (88 percent) to cast their votes. According to the ECP, the constituency had 515,003 registered voters (including 274,987 men and 240,016 women), which was an increase of 16.1 percent compared to GE-2018.

By-election NA-245 Karachi: Army on Alert

The ECP established 263 polling stations (including 18 male, 18 female, and 227 combined), which was a 15 percent increase from GE-2018. To cater to potential security risks, all 263 polling stations were declared as ‘sensitive’ (60) or ‘highly sensitive’ (203) by the ECP. Accordingly, Pakistan Rangers were deployed for maintaining security (with the Pakistan Army on standby).

The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) deployed 11 election-day observers (including eight men and three women), all of whom were allowed to conduct observation of the required processes. These independent, trained, and accredited observers carried out the observation at 42 polling stations (including one female, two male, and 39 combined) and reported smooth conduct of the polling with no untoward incident.

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