Kohistan by-election: Women, non-residents barred from voting
Polling is scheduled to take place on November 24.
DASU:
Women and people not belonging to Kohistan will not be allowed to cast their votes in the by-election of KP-61 Kohistan I, scheduled to take place on November 24.
This was decided by the representatives of all eight contestants of the constituency on Thursday.
The candidates contesting the by-elections include ANP and PPP’s joint candidate Sajadullah Khan, Maulana Dildar Ahmed from JUI-F and Malik Aurangzeb from PML-Q.
The names of the independent candidates are Mahshuqur Rehman, Haji Mian Noor, Muhammad Tahir, Kifayatullah and Salahuddin.
To avoid any dispute on the election day, the contestants agreed not to allow non-residents of Kohistan having double votes registered to cast their votes.
They also unanimously agreed to bar women from voting unless women police personnel were deployed at polling stations.
They were of the view that the practise had led to tension between tribesmen in the 2008 elections, as some supporters had casted the votes of women unlawfully.
“We don’t allow women to go to polling stations and show their faces to strangers. It is against our traditions and it is not permitted in Islam,” said Ahmed.
According to sources, the representatives suggested male members of a family to be allowed to cast the votes on behalf of their women. However, the idea was rejected by the authorities.
Assistant Election Commissioner Deen Muhammad, when contacted, rejected the report and said that women would be allowed to vote after being identified by women polling agents of each candidate.
The seat for KP-61 fell vacant after the death of Maulvi Obaidullah last month, who was elected as an independent member of provincial assembly in 2008.
The constituency has a total of 65,863 male and 18,701 female voters.
A total of 50 polling stations, 111 polling booths (61 for males and 50 for females) have been setup for the by-election.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2011.
Women and people not belonging to Kohistan will not be allowed to cast their votes in the by-election of KP-61 Kohistan I, scheduled to take place on November 24.
This was decided by the representatives of all eight contestants of the constituency on Thursday.
The candidates contesting the by-elections include ANP and PPP’s joint candidate Sajadullah Khan, Maulana Dildar Ahmed from JUI-F and Malik Aurangzeb from PML-Q.
The names of the independent candidates are Mahshuqur Rehman, Haji Mian Noor, Muhammad Tahir, Kifayatullah and Salahuddin.
To avoid any dispute on the election day, the contestants agreed not to allow non-residents of Kohistan having double votes registered to cast their votes.
They also unanimously agreed to bar women from voting unless women police personnel were deployed at polling stations.
They were of the view that the practise had led to tension between tribesmen in the 2008 elections, as some supporters had casted the votes of women unlawfully.
“We don’t allow women to go to polling stations and show their faces to strangers. It is against our traditions and it is not permitted in Islam,” said Ahmed.
According to sources, the representatives suggested male members of a family to be allowed to cast the votes on behalf of their women. However, the idea was rejected by the authorities.
Assistant Election Commissioner Deen Muhammad, when contacted, rejected the report and said that women would be allowed to vote after being identified by women polling agents of each candidate.
The seat for KP-61 fell vacant after the death of Maulvi Obaidullah last month, who was elected as an independent member of provincial assembly in 2008.
The constituency has a total of 65,863 male and 18,701 female voters.
A total of 50 polling stations, 111 polling booths (61 for males and 50 for females) have been setup for the by-election.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2011.