ISLAMABAD - A team of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will leave for Multan to review poll arrangements as by-election is scheduled to be held on March 17 on NA-153.
The National Assembly seat had fallen vacant after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Dewan Ashiq Hussain Bukhari was disqualified by a court for providing incorrect information in his nomination papers and possessing a fake degree.
Bukhari had won last year’s polls against his arch rival Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, who had contested on Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) ticket.
The ECP team according to officials will ascertain whether the military should be deployed at polling stations keeping in view the sensitivity of the area. They team according to a statement issued here will ensure appropriate arrangements including security measures for the election activity.
According to election staff, the PML-N and the PPP are the major parties that have intensified election campaign. The PTI too is active to grab the seat. But Deewan Ashiq Bukhari, a heavy weight in the constituency has won the seat for two consecutive terms in 2008 on Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) ticket and in 2013 on the ruling party’s ticket.
Before contesting the 2013 general election on PPP’s ticket, Noon had contested as an independent candidate and in 2003 he contested the elections on PML-Q’s ticket.