Polling ends in first phase of LG elections in K-P

Incidents of disorder reported in different areas; elections postponed in Tehsil Baka Khel

BANNU:

Polling for local body elections in 17 districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (K-P) commenced on Sunday with incidents of chaos being reported from several different areas.

Polling began at 8 am for the first phase of local body elections and continued till 5 pm in 17 districts of the province, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat and DI Khan.

19,282 candidates are contesting for general seats and 3,905 candidates are contesting for women's seats.

Elections indefinitely postponed in Bala Khel

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday postponed the local body elections in K-P's Tehsil Baka Khel due to poor law and order situation, including the abduction of police, polling personnel, and snatching at the polls.

According to a statement from the ECP, “the Deputy Commissioner Bannu and District Police Officer Bannu have inquired and reported the incident of abduction of police personnel, polling staff (including females) and snatching of different polling bags/materials at different polling stations of Tehsil Baka Khel in the district of Bannu."

The deputy commissioner and district police officer further maintained that “the situation warrants the postponement of polling process” in the Tehsil, until the law-and-order situation is reestablished.

The ECP stated that the chief secretary of the government of K-P endorsed these recommendations.

A spokesperson for the ECP said that the rule of law must be ensured and that “voters will be given the full right to exercise their voting right."

“Legal action will be taken without any discrimination on any violation of law,” the spokesperson added.

The ECP also formed a fact-finding inquiry committee to probe the incident and submit a report to the commission within seven days.

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The inquiry committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal and includes Additional Director General Law Khurram Shehzad and Director Election K-P Khushalzada.

Clashes between workers at polling stations

Incidents of disorder in many places have been reported. Polling had to be stopped in Municipal Intercollege Shahi Bagh due to invalid stamp.

In Ibrahimabad, the incident of a clash was reported when men entered the women's polling stations, while in Shah Alam Tehsil, polling was stopped due to a fight between the workers.

There was also an uproar in Khyber over a complaint of chao and a ballot box was broken.

Controversy over receipt of ballot papers before elections

Controversy erupted when ballot papers arrived at the polling stations of Peshawar NC 33 and 34, with ANP and PPP candidates accusing the opposition of rigging.

When the ballot papers arrived protesters entered the school and chanted slogans.

Police arrested the presiding officer of Tehsil Gore Gathari School.

According to the spokesperson of the commission, the ECP immediately removed the polling staff.

ANP leader shot dead

On Saturday, ANP leader Umar Khattab Sherani was shot dead outside his house a day before the K-P local body polls.

It is pertinent to mention that he was a candidate for the Tehsil’s mayor.

Speaking to the media, DPO Najm ul Hasnain said a case has been registered against two unidentified armed suspects on the complaint of the deceased leader's brother.

According to Sherani’s brother, the deceased did not mention any enmity with anyone. Police said five teams have been constituted to investigate the case.

A total of 1,26,68,862 voters are set to cast their votes. There are 7,015,767 male voters, and 5,653,095 female voters.

Security arrangements

There are 77,000 police personnel deployed for the local body elections, while there is also a Quick Response Force consisting of 10,000 Frontier Constabulary and Army personnel.