Stepping up: Fresh faces in K-P Assembly face same old challenges

Many first-time lawmakers belong to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

PESHAWAR:

Candidates who succeeded in winning from their constituency – many of whom have never been elected before – face a plethora of challenges.

Iftikhar Mashwani, the winning candidate for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from PK-26 Mardan, said his party will strive to provide relief to the electorate according to the party’s manifesto. “We will try to empower the union councils through local government elections,” he told The Express Tribune.



We will make efforts to hold talks with all stakeholders and avoid the use of force to restore peace, added Mashwani.

Political analysts say two major challenges which incoming lawmakers face are revival of the economy and combating terrorism in the region. Reforming government departments will also be a tough task for new candidates, they added.

Though PTI won the most number of seats in the province, it still needs coalition partners to form the government. Analysts say this will be a testing period for inexperienced lawmakers as they try to manage provincial issues. Some senior and experienced politicians will be sitting on the opposition benches and the ruling party must keep cordial relations with them.

The new faces in assembly must also learn from previous governments and refrain from experimenting, an analyst stressed.



According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 29 out of 35 candidates from PTI will have their first stint as lawmakers; the same goes for six out of the seven victorious Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) candidates. Three from the Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP), three from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), four from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), four independents and one from the Awami National Party (ANP) have no experience as lawmakers either.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2013.