Redefining boundaries: Opposition parties criticise cantonment board delimitation

Say they are not taken into confidence.

PESHAWAR: Opposition parties have objected to the new demarcation of wards in Cantonment Board Peshawar, saying they were not taken into confidence before the decision was made.

Five candidates will be elected on the five wards in the cantonment board elections to be held in November. The five members will in turn elect one woman and one member of a minority community. The seven members will then elect the vice president.



Former provincial minister and ANP leader Syed Aqil Shah said he has submitted a document listing their concerns to Cantonment Board Peshawar and the election commission along with further suggestions. “The wards were made during the 1997 elections and have [been] changed completely. We have informed the committee [responsible] for cantonment board and elections,” he told The Express Tribune on Monday.

Provincial vice president of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Naeem Bakhsh said none of the parties were consulted before the new boundaries were drawn. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has also expressed reservations over the move, while the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has accepted the decision.



PTI MPA Arif Yousaf said the party had a few reservations, but they were later addressed. Jamaat-e-Islami information Secretary Muhammad Iqbal said they too have no objections and will contest elections on the newly demarcated wards.

The last cantonment board elections were held in October 1998.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2013.