Unofficial results: 539 candidates from Peshawar elected unopposed

Decision made due to limited number of aspirants, says ECP official.

PESHAWAR: At least 539 local government candidates in Peshawar district have been elected unopposed.

According to a copy of documents issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan available with The Express Tribune, a list of 8,675 candidates for general seats and women, youth and minorities’ seats had been approved. However, 539 candidates have been elected unopposed due to a limited number of candidates for general and reserved seats.

The documents indicate 216 out of 1,052 candidates for reserved seats for women have been elected unopposed.

“At least, 240 out of 4,228 candidates for general seats, have been elected unopposed,” the document said. “Out of 1,663 candidates for peasant and workers seats, 10 have been elected unopposed. Furthermore, 19 candidates out of 1,562 youth seats have also been elected.”

The document further stated 54 out of 170 candidates who applied for non-Muslims reserved seats were elected unopposed.

Confirmation

An ECP official, who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak about the matter, confirmed the unopposed election of these candidates.

“They have been elected unopposed because the number of candidates in these parts of the district were limited,” he said. “In some places, candidates were selected through consultation with local jirgas and other candidates.”

Speaking to The Express Tribune, ECP Spokesperson Sohail Khan said a notification will be issued on June 7 to confirm their election.

“Even though they have been elected unopposed, the results of these 539 candidates will be declared on June 7 – the date set for the announcement of results.”

According to Khan, in some parts of the district, some candidates had withdrawn from the election and their opponents were elected unopposed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2015.