Pakistan has stopped phone calls and internet on mobile phones while people go to vote for a new government.
A spokesperson from the government’s interior ministry said the new rule was necessary because of recent terror attacks in the country.
The election is happening nearly two years after the last prime minister, Imran Khan, who used to be a cricketer, was removed from office in a vote.
Nawaz Sharif, who has been Prime Minister three times, is running in an election that many experts think is not very reliable.
Khan went to jail last year for being corrupt and can’t run for office anymore.
Both phone calls and internet have been stopped, but the wifi is still working.
One voter told the media that they were surprised by the decision. They said that instead of facing obstacles, voters should be helped.
Another person said that they thought there would be a complete shutdown.
A lot of people in Lahore couldn’t book a taxi to go vote because the internet was not working. Also, some people couldn’t talk to their family members to plan when to go to the polling stations.
The Ministry of Interior said they moved because people have died in recent terrorist attacks and it’s important to keep people safe. Keeping things safe is very important to make sure everything stays peaceful and to handle any possible dangers.
Two explosions killed 28 people in the Balochistan province on Wednesday.
Bilawal Bhutto Zadari, the son of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, criticized the shutdown and demanded that services be restored right away. Bhutto, who is also running for the top job, said that his political party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has asked the election commission and the courts to help restore services.
The country is being very careful and has a lot of police at the voting places. The BBC went to a station in Lahore that had guards with guns at the entrance and army officers walking around.
Pakistan has closed its borders with Afghanistan and Iran to make sure it is safe during the election. No one can cross the border, whether walking or bringing things in, until the election is over.
In the past, the country has stopped people from using the internet to control what information is spread. This has never happened to this extent before, especially during an election.