Cantt boards polls a hard nut to crack for political parties

Three major political parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — are facing mounting difficulties in the distribution of tickets among candidates for local bodies’ elections of Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards.

Several former electables of the cantonment board have returned the election tickets awarded by the PML-N and decided to contest polls as independents.

Former vice presidents of both the cantonment boards also face the risk of losing their seats this time around, while Jamaat-e-Islami is also likely to lose the single seat it won in the 2015 elections of the two cantonments. It is observed that many big wigs of municipalities under the cantonment boards are likely to be defeated.

On the other side, the delimitation of constituencies in the cantonment boards has also risked the victory for many candidates.

The PPP is facing immense difficulty in awarding tickets to candidates, while the PTI is being questioned over the three-year performance of the party’s central secretary general and Federal Minister Amir Mehmood Kayani.

Kayani could not do any development work within his constituency and also remained off the party workers and voters. According to sources, he did not show up at the constituency after his last election victory.

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Meanwhile, PTI federal parliamentary secretary Sheikh Rashid Shafiq and provincial parliamentary secretary Chaudhry Adnan are considered key players for the local bodies elections.

Shafiq has eight wards under cantonment board Rawalpindi while Chaudhry Adnan has six wards of cantonment board Chaklala. The PTI cannot field individual and joint candidates without their approval.

Meanwhile, the district party leaders of PTI have quit the committees for election nominations. So far, no political party has announced its candidates. Two to three candidates from each political party are expected to contest the upcoming polls.

Party leaders and workers who do not get tickets may contest the polls as independent candidates. The PML-N is working on a strategy to appease its disgruntled candidates. However, the party does not appear to have extensive on-ground support from the workers with whose help it can win over electable candidates.

Many veteran party workers have sidelined themselves because of the current political situation. Political observers say that the nominees of all three parties will have to work on their own to win the seats.

A candidate, backed by the party, cannot win the polls this time around unless workers rallied behind them. The citizens will witness a close contest in all the 20 electoral seats of the cantonment boards