PAKISTAN: VOTERS IN KASHMIR GO TO POLLS TO CHOSE NEW LEGISLATURE AMID TIGHT SECURITY
Record ID:
328729
PAKISTAN: VOTERS IN KASHMIR GO TO POLLS TO CHOSE NEW LEGISLATURE AMID TIGHT SECURITY
- Title: PAKISTAN: VOTERS IN KASHMIR GO TO POLLS TO CHOSE NEW LEGISLATURE AMID TIGHT SECURITY
- Date: 7th July 2001
- Summary: KOTLI, PAKISTAN (JULY 5, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV STREET SCENES WITH TRAFFIC; SLV/MV VOTERS QUEUING (4 SHOTS) 0.34 2. MV MEN PUTTING VOTES IN BALLOT BOXES; MV VOTERS SITTING; SCU VOTERS BEING MARKED AFTER VOTING; MV MORE VOTERS VOTING (5 SHOTS) 1.07 3. MV MILITARY SECURITY OUTSIDE POLLING STATION 1.14 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) MAN VOTER SAYING "Under the army supervision, the election is going fair and clean. We are casting our votes without any problem." 1.21 5. SCU WOMEN WORKING AT POLLING CENTRE (9 SHOTS) 2.23 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Urdu) WOMAN VOTER SAYING "The polling is going peacefully and the Kashmiri women casting their votes in a very peaceful environment." 2.31 7. MV WOMEN IN VOTING QUEUE; MV MORE MILITARY SECURITY (3 SHOTS) 2.55 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KOTLI, PAKISTAN
- Country: Pakistan
- Reuters ID: LVA5UGKRGUO4NZNXMIKSUVKABZ15
- Story Text: Voters in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir have gone to the
polls to choose a new legislature days before the disputed
mountain region take centre stage at an India-Pakistan summit.
As the India-Pakistan summit nears in a week,
Pakistan-ruled Kashmir went to the polls Thursday (July 5)
amid tight army security.
Voters turned out to mark ballots with symbols identifying
each party in the presence of army troops.
Sixteen political parties, with more than 300 candidates,
are competing in this election with 40 of the 48 seats in the
state Legislative Assembly up for grabs.
Voting started slowly in the day, but numbers picked up
later as queues started forming outside voting centres. Men
and women traditionally vote separately in polls where they
are then marked with ink after putting their votes in the
ballot boxes.
Voters said the army presence was helping ensure a clean
and safe election.
"Under the army supervision, the election is going fair and
clean. We are casting our votes without any problem," said a
male voter.
A female voter also said, "The polling is going peacefully
and the Kashmiri women casting their votes in a very peaceful
environment."
Pro-independence and pro-India candidates were visibly
absent on the polling cards as they have been barred from
competing in the elections by the Pakistani government.
Newly-inaugurated Pakistan President General Pervez
Musharraf is set to meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee in a summit next week, from July 14-16, where the
topic of their conflicting claims to Kashmir is expected to be
discussed.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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