The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all arrangements for holding local government elections in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday.
According to the Provincial Election Commission (PEC), the election campaign was scheduled to end at 11:59 pm on Friday.
Polling will start at 8 am on Sunday and will continue till 5 pm without any break.
During the elections, 77,000 policemen and law-enforcement personnel will be deployed outside polling stations and booths for the security of voters. Quick Response Force’s personnel would also be deployed to ‘nearby areas of responsibility’ for responding to any untoward situation during elections.
9,223 polling stations and 28,892 polling booths have been set up, out of which 4,188 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 2,507 most sensitive.
CCTV cameras have been installed and both of these sensitive locations and it is prohibited to carry weapons or electronic devices in all polling stations.
Over 12.668 million registered voters, including 7,015,757 male and 5,653,095 female voters, would decide the fate of 37,752 candidates contesting for different seats in Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, DI Khan, Tank, Haripur, Buner, and Bajaur districts.
About 689 candidates are in the run for 689 tehsils -- 19,285 for general seats of village, and neighbourhood councils, 3,870 for women, 7,428 for farmers and labour, 6,011 for youth and 293 for minorities.
In the wake of Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) judgement, local government elections are being held on political parties’ basis in KP where candidates have fielded political heavyweights as well as newcomers to secure maximum seats. The mainstream political parties have pitched experienced candidates and newcomers to win maximum seats.
For Peshawar tehsil mayor’s seat, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has awarded ticket to business tycoon Rizwan Bangash while Awami National Party’s (ANP) Sher Rehman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Arbab Zarak Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Zubair Ali and Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) Advocate Behrullah Khan are also in the run for the same seat.
The candidates, who win tehsils in five divisional headquarters -- Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu and DI Khan, will be called mayors, while elected candidates of 61 other tehsils will be called chairmen. A complaint cell has been set up for polling day in Peshawar where people can register their complaints on 091-9214137.
On the last day of campaigning, electioneering reached its climax in these districts where candidates made last-minute effort by addressing corner meetings and holding public rallies to win voters’ support. They also expedited door-to-door campaigns to woo baradaris ahead of the election day.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 18th, 2021.
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