Local bodies in Balochistan: Elections held for 612 reserved seats

Polls for one seat in Musakhel cancelled due to security issues

QUETTA: Elections for 612 seats reserved for peasants and labourers in local government bodies in Balochistan were held on Wednesday.

The results of what was the third phase of local government elections in the province will be announced on January 2, Balochistan Election Commissioner Sultan Bayazid said. Over 1,400 candidates contested the 613 reserved seats across Balochistan.



Polling began simultaneously across the province at 9am and finished at 3pm. Polls for one seat in the Musakhel district had to be cancelled, however, due to law and order problems. “A group of armed men kidnapped election staff in Union Council (UC) Drogh of Musakhel district,” an election commission official said.

There was a tough competition in Quetta, where Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Party (NP) – coalition partners in the provincial government – were pitched against a seven-party front, the All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDA). The alliance featured the PML-N, a coalition partner of NP and PkMAP in the provincial government.



Some 23 candidates contested the six seats reserved for peasants and labourers in the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation. Around 57 councillors voted during polling. According to unofficial results, PkMAP and APDA secured three seats each.

Both factions were tied in the Quetta District Council as well with four seats each. “Draws will be held to select the chairman of the committee,” said Sultan Bayazid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st,  2015.

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