Tariq Saeed Peshawar
Marred with incidents of bloody violence and allegations and counter allegations of rigging by the political parties, the first phase of local bodies polls for the seventeen districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa concluded here Sunday evening. The results pouring in till the filing of this report showed mixed response.
While at least two people were killed and three others sustained injuries in a firing incident Sunday at a polling station in Karak district, the Federal Minister for Science and technology Shibli Faraz official vehicle was also attacked by a mob in Darra Adam Khel. Though his car was damaged yet the former Federal Information Minister remained unhurt. Those districts where local government elections were held include Peshawar, Noshehra, Charsadda, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan,
Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, DI Khan, Tank, Haripur, Buner and Bajaur. The polls in the rest of the province will be held in January in the second phase. As the Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed elections in some tehsils after clash reported between political parties, voting for the election of Dera Ismail Khan Mayor City council was deferred after ANP’s candidate Mohammad Umar Khattab was shot dead on Saturday.
In Peshawar, 62 candidates have been elected unopposed on general seats, 145 on women seats, 105 on farmers seats, 45 on minorities seats while in Noshehra, 12 candidates were elected unopposed on general seats, 51 on women seats, 19 on farmers seats, 34 on youth seats and 11 on minorities seats.
Nine candidates were elected unopposed on general seats in Charsadda, 55 on women seats, 9 on farm-ers seats, 30 on youth seats and 9 on minorities seats. Twenty-four candidates were elected unopposed on general seats in the Khyber district, 51 on women seats, 18 on farmers seats, 30 on youth seats and 12 on minorities seats. In Mohmand district, 15 have been elected unopposed on women seats, 5 on youth seats, whereas, 9 on general seats in Mardan, 99 on women seats, 38 on farmers seats, 68 on youth seats and 15 on youth seats.
Likewise in Swabi, 18 candidates were elected unopposed on general seats, 84 on women seats, 40 on farmers seats, 57 on youth seats and two on minorities seats where as in Kohat, six were elected unopposed on general seats, 61 on women seats, 8 on farmers seats, 23 on youth seats and 10 on minorities seats.
In Karak, nine candidates were elected unopposed on women seats, one on seats, 5 on farmers seats, 11 on youth seats and 7 on minorities seats. In Lakki Marwat, 11 were elected unopposed on women seats, 3 on farmers seats, 11 on youth seats and 5 on minorities seats. In Dera Ismail Khan, 12
In Lakki Marwat, 11 were elected unopposed on women seats, 3 on farmers seats, 11 on youth seats and 5 on minorities seats. In Dera Ismail Khan, 12 were elected unopposed on general seats, 53 on women seats, 12 on farmers seats, 28 on youth seats and minorities seats.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz’s convoy came under attack by armed assail-ants in the Darra Adam Khel area of Kohat district Sunday morning. According to details the federal minis-ter was travelling back to Peshawar after casting his vote in his hometown constituency Kohat when he came under attack. Armed assailants hurled stones at a vehicle of Shibli Faraz and ran away from the scene.
At least two people were killed and three others sustained injuries in a firing incident Sunday at a polling station in the Takht-e-Nasarati Tehsil of the Karak district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The incident happened when the polling for KP’s local body election was underway. However, the polling was subsequently stopped after the situation turned chaotic there.
According to the report, one of the deceased was a paternal cousin of PTI’s MNA Shahid Khattak, while the other was his bodyguard. Eyewitnesses said the assailants fled the scene after opening fire at the polling station. On the other hand, armed men attacked polling stations in Zakha Khel and Landi Kotal areas of Khyber District, as a result of which ballot boxes were smashed and polling materials were also damaged. Armed men also broke into the polling station at Malik Nadir Shah School in Landi Kotal Bazaar, smashed ballot boxes, damaged election materials, and took the election staff hostage.
A female presiding officer and her husband were arrested in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over rigging allega-tions ahead of local bodies polls/
According to details, opposition parties including ANP and Pakistan Peoples Party have accused the fe-male presiding officer and her husband for stamping ballot papers in neighborhood Councils 33 and 34 of Peshawar.
Talking to the media, the provincial election commissioner said the presiding officer and her husband had been arrested, adding that action would be taken against anyone found involved in the rigging. He also ordered to deploy new polling staff in neighborhood Councils 33 and 34 of Peshawar.
Armed men also broke into the polling station at Malik Nadir Shah School in Landi Kotal Bazaar, smashed ballot boxes, damaged election materials, and took the election staff hostage.
Earlier in the morning polling process in Baka Khel tehsil of Bannu district was also halted after the secu-rity situation got out of hand. A statement issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan said that the new date for polling in Baka Khel will be announced later. No announcement has so far been made regarding reelection in the other affected districts.
Leader of the Opposition in KP Assembly Akram Khan Durrani has leveled allegations against a provin-cial minister of PTI for storming into five polling stations in Baka Khel and taking the polling staff hostage. The ECP’s spokesperson said that KP’s chief election commissioner has formed a special committee to probe the matter.
For the coveted slot of Mayor Peshawar city, JUI-F’s Zubair Ali was leading with 9471 votes with PTI’s Rizwan Bangash in trails with 6,163 votes. As many as 17 candidates competed for this position.
Likewise in Noshehra mayor election, PTI’s Ishaq Khattak, who is the son of Defense Minister Pervez Khattak was leading with 4014 votes and his cousin PPP’s Aha Khattak was left behind with 1600 votes. A Mayor post is in divisional headquarters and a Tehsil Chairman in others areas. In total 65 of them were to be elected today.
Three general councilors, of which the one with the highest votes will become the head of Village Council in rural areas or Neighborhood Council (NC) in urban areas. He/she will also be a member of the Tehsil/City Council. The election is being held for 2382 NCs/VCs and in total over 7,000 general councilors are elected.
Four other councilors, one each on labor/peasant, woman, youth, and minorities seat. Not every VC/NC has elected candidates on all of these four seats. A total of 19,285 candidates contested for general seats, 7,428 candidates competed on seats reserved for labor/peasant, 3,870 on women seats and 6,000 on seats reserved for youth.
