Campaigning draws to a close in Pakistan after ECP's advisory

Islamabad, Feb 7 (IANS) Poll campaigning in Pakistan has concluded after country's election commission issued an advisory restraining political parties from electioneering for the general elections, scheduled on Thursday.

The campaigning ended on Tuesday midnight.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a statement saying that any candidate and political party participating in the general elections found attending any meeting, procession, corner meeting, or any event after the said time will be dealt with according to laws.

"After the above-mentioned time, the publication of election campaigns, advertisements and other written materials on electronic and print media, which may be suspected of supporting or opposing a particular political party or candidate, is prohibited," said the poll panel.

It also imposed a ban on the publication and telecasting of all kinds of poll surveys on the media until the elections are held, Xinhua news agency reported.

Political leaders and contesting candidates made efforts through public gatherings, rallies, corner meetings and door-to-door campaigns to achieve maximum public support.

According to the ECP, all the arrangements for the polling day have been completed with the establishment of 90,675 polling stations, the deployment of polling staff as well as security personnel across the country.

A total of 5,121 candidates will contest for the 266 general seats in the National Assembly or the lower house of the country's parliament, according to the ECP data.

While, a total of 12,695 candidates will be competing for the 593 general seats in the four provinces for the provincial assemblies.