ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday gave all the political parties until midnight 12 am to end their respective election campaigns for the by-polls scheduled for August 22, DawnNews reported.
According to the ECP, all the parties and their candidates had been directed that their political campaigns and public meetings must come to a halt at the said time.
The polls scheduled for Thursday are important for all the major political parties as 16 national and 26 provincial seats will be up for grabs across the country.
On the last day of election campaigning, candidates contesting for the polls were found to be addressing public gatherings.
Meanwhile, all the necessary arrangements for holding by-elections in 42 national and provincial assembly constituencies, including printing of ballot papers had been made.
The electoral material moreover had been dispatched to the relevant Returning Officers (ROs).
The commission had decided to deploy more than 4,000 army personnel in and outside all highly sensitive polling stations and outside all other sensitive polling stations to ensure free and fair elections.
According to the ECP, army personnel would be able to exercise powers of the first-class magistrate under which they could arrest or punish any troublemakers trying to interfere with smooth polling on August 22.
The polling would commence at 8 am in the morning and would continue undisrupted until 5 pm in the evening.