Over half of ex-FATA polling stations ‘sensitive’

All polling stations in Waziristan termed as highly-sensitive

PESHAWAR: A day after the apex poll body rolled back its decision to deploy army officials inside all polling stations in the newly-merged tribal districts ahead of provincial assembly elections there later this month, the commission has declared that of the 1,897 polling stations, over half are either highly sensitive or sensitive.

All 415 polling stations in the volatile North and South Waziristan tribal districts have been deemed as highly-sensitive while all constituencies located on the border with Afghanistan have been termed as highly-sensitive.

This was disclosed during a special meeting by the Provincial Election Commissioner Pir Maqbool Ahmed in Peshawar. Additional Director General Night Saddiq, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Commission on Women Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz and representatives of various gender-specific and specially-abled people groups participated in the meeting.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 554 polling stations have been deemed as highly sensitive in the militancy-hit erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata). Moreover, 461 polling stations have been declared as sensitive. The remaining 882 polling stations have been termed as normal.

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In the Bajaur tribal district, seven and 16 polling stations have been deemed as highly-sensitive in PK-100 and PK-104 respectively. As many as 81 polling stations were declared as normal.

The ECP further said that apart from North and South Waziristan, the 163 polling stations in the only constituency of Frontier Region (FR), PK 115, were sensitive.

Meanwhile, Provincial Election Commissioner Ahmed said that it has taken special measures to ensure that pregnant women, transgender, and specially-abled people can participate in the July 20 elections.

Further, measures have been taken to encourage the participation of women voters.

It was further disclosed that some 2.8 million voters are expected to participate in the July 20 elections. In the meeting, it was hoped that the voter turnout will be higher than it has been in the past.

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The ECP had requested the army to provide security for elections in the newly-merged tribal districts. However, after running into opposition from locals, particularly electoral candidates, the poll body decided to limit the deployment of soldiers to only ‘sensitive’ polling stations.

Furthermore, the ECP decided to lift the imposition of Section 144 in the ex-Fata areas owing to complaints from candidates.

The provincial government had assured the ECP that it would install CCTV cameras at all polling stations.

Shortened tenure

Candidates elected from the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) in the July 20 elections will be serving a shorter term of around four years so that the next general elections in these areas can be held as per the same cycle as the rest of the country.

Moreover, sources said that the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial government his mulling the inclusion of as many as three lawmakers elected from these areas in the provincial cabinet.

A source within the provincial government told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that after elections on the 16 direct seats on July 20, the successful candidates are expected to take the oath of the K-P assembly by the end of the month, barring any unexpected development.

Apart from inducting candidates from these areas in the cabinet, they will also be included in the standing committees of the provincial assembly.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2019.