K-P to hold local bodies’ polls in November

Elections will be held in four phases due to weather conditions

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has decided to hold local bodies’ elections throughout the province in phases starting from November later this year.

Reliable sources told The Express Tribune that village council elections will be held in the first phase whereas the tehsil and city council elections will be held in the last phase.

The elections will begin from November in phases and it has already been decided that the elections will be held in the non-mountainous districts in the first and second phases but it will be organized in the mountainous and cold weather districts of the province during the third phase.

Special Assistance to Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash told The Express Tribune that arrangements had been made to hold the elections in phases by the provincial government.

He added that the Election Commission of Pakistan had directed the K-P government to take up the matter in the cabinet meeting and the special cabinet committee formed for the purpose will hold its first meeting in the next few days.

Bangash said the elections will be held in four phases across the province due to different and extreme cold weather conditions in parts of the province.

He informed the reporter that there will be 30,000 polling stations and 80 polling booths with a staff of 350,000 personnel deployed for this purpose.

“As you know that the local bodies’ elections is a major event and that is why it has been decided to hold it in several phases to make it a success,” he said.

It is worth noting that the election commission and the federal government wanted to hold the elections as soon as possible but the K-P government had recommended that it should be held next year in phases because of the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, prevailing coronavirus as well as harsh winters conditions in parts of the province where heavy snowfall makes it nearly impossible to move freely for general public and staff.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2021.