Election 2024: Pakistan issues coverage permits to foreign journalists

The caretaker government of Pakistan issued permits to foreign media for the coverage of the upcoming general election scheduled to be held on February 08, ARY News reported on Monday, citing sources.

Sources revealed that the government issued election coverage permits to 35 foreign journalists from China, Japan, America, London, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore during the initial phase.

It is worth mentioning here that the deadline for the application submission related to the election coverage permit for foreign journalists was January 20, 2024.

Sources claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) printed as many as 200,000 press accreditation cards for the coverage of the general election 2024.

Meanwhile, the delegations of the European Union and Commonwealth countries are also likely to visit Pakistan to observe the general elections.

Earlier in the day, the ECP has categorized over 17,500 polling stations as highly sensitive, 32,508 as sensitive, and 42,500 as normal out of a total of 92,500 polling stations nationwide.

Polling stations are categorized into A, B, and C groups, determined by their sensitivity levels, sources said.

From over 17,500 polling stations designated as highly sensitive across the country due to concerns of potential unrest, 6,599 are in Punjab, and 4,430 are in Sindh, all set to be monitored by CCTV cameras.

A total of 2,038 polling stations in Balochistan and 4,344 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been categorized as highly sensitive.