KARACHI: In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the Karachi administration to appoint healthcare staff during the NA-249 by-poll, ARY NEWS reported.
The letter written by the District Returning Officer (DRO) Syed Nadeem Haider to the Karachi administration called for the appointment of healthcare staff in order to effectively implement COVID SOPs during the polling process.
The healthcare staff should be ensured within the polling station, the letter read adding that the election staffers and voters should only be allowed to enter the polling stations after fulfilling virus-related SOPs.
It further said that commissioner Karachi and other officials of the Karachi administration ensure the implementation of social distancing and proper sanitization at the polling stations.
On April 19, Keeping in view the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the province, the Sindh government on Monday formally requested the Election Commission of Pakistan to postpone the by-election for National Assembly constituency NA-249 Karachi.
Responding to it on April 22, the ECP rejected the request and announced that the by-poll would be held on time.
The ECP issued a notification, directing political parties to wind up all political activity in the constituency 48 hours before the polls and warned that anyone found violating it would be punished with imprisonment.
DRO Syed Nadeem Haider said that the by-polls in NA-249 would be held on April 29.
The by-poll in the constituency is scheduled for April 29 and the electioneering in the constituency will culminate at midnight of 27 and 28 April.
