K-P local govt polls see large turnout

Late and slow polling, scuffles mar the day

PESHAWAR:

People showed an unusual enthusiasm in the first phase of local bodies polls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) despite extreme cold weather and incidents of violence on Sunday.

Long lines of male and female voters could be seen in all the 17 districts of the province including tribal districts of Khyber, Bajaur and Mohmand.

Polling was held in three divisional headquarters and 60 other tehsils. In DI Khan polling was postponed for tehsil mayor after the murder of ANP candidate. In Peshawar’s Qadirabad polling was postponed after clashes.

Polling was largely peaceful despite incidents of violence as two people were killed in clashes in Karak district and another two were killed in a suicide attack at ANP’s vehicle in Bajaur. At least eight people were also injured in case of violence and firing.

Two policemen in Salarzai, Bajaur were injured when unidentified people opened fire at their vehicle. They were coming back from a polling station where they were called to control the situation.

Local residents told The Express Tribune that despite the enthusiasm among the womenfolk in Bajaur tribal district, there was insufficient staff at the polling stations and most of the voters were unaware of the polling process so it resulted in slow polling in some women polling stations.

Similar complaint emerged from other districts too.

In Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Kohat, Khyber, Mohmand, Haripur, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Buner and other districts polling was largely smooth and peaceful.

“The candidates and political parties were successful not only in mobilising their party workers but also other people which is really an encouraging sign because there were security concerns,” said a local resident of Peshawar, adding that all political parties worked really hard through their candidates and workers to this end.

A night earlier a video emerged on social media showing that some people were stamping ballots inside a polling station in the walled city on which ECP took action and formed a committee.

Voters largely complained that the process had been made confusing due to the six ballot papers and the staff was also not properly trained.

A large number of voters were still inside the polling stations when the polling time ended at 5 o’clock in the evening.

Secretary ECP, Omer Hameed Khan Sunday said that the turnout in the local bodies’ election is very high as voters enthusiastically took part in the first phase of the polling in K-P.

Talking to media persons after visiting different polling stations in Mardan and Swabi districts, the Secretary ECP said that the people of K-P had shown great enthusiasm in the elections as they knew that new leadership comes through this system.

He said local bodies’ election was very important for Pakistan as it strengthen political system and address people problems at grassroots level. The Secretary while expressing satisfaction on security and polling arrangements said that polling was smoothly underway and no major incident of rigging or voting irregularity has been reported.

He said elements involved in the last night incident regarding unlawful stamping of ballot papers in a polling station in Peshawar has been arrested and a high level committee was constituted to probe it. He said the committee would submit inquiry report in seven days and strict action would be taken against the responsible. (Additional input from APP)

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2021.