The district administration of Peshawar has imposed Section 144 in the city for a period of one month in an effort to maintain law and order during the upcoming local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A notification issued from the office of Deputy Commissioner Peshawar quoting DC Resud Mehsud, said that pillion riding, aerial firing, display of weapons and the use of loudspeakers in public gathering and political rallies will be completely banned until June 23 under Section 144 of the criminal procedure code.
Section 144 of the CrPC relates to “Power to issue order absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger”.
The district administration also asked the police to take strict action against violators under the relevant laws.
The administration’s decision to impose Section 144 was taken to avoid any untoward incident during the local body elections which are to take place on May 30.
A total of 11,211 polling stations will be set up in 24 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the upcoming local council elections.
Among them, 3,428 are for men, 3,059 for women and 4,724 combined.
While the Election Commission of Pakistan and the Peshawar High Court have yet to decide the controversy over the alleged disenfranchisement of women in the recent Lower Dir by-elections, most polling stations in some backward and conservative districts are combined.
In those stations, separate polling booths will be set up for men and women. However, they will be situated on the same premises on May 30, the polling day.
Moreover, in light of the local bodies election scheduled for May 30, the Election Commission of Pakistan has cancelled the holidays of KP election commission officials till June 1.
According to media reports, the election commission officers would be opened for the whole week including Saturday and Sunday.
