Stage set for cantonment elections across K-P

43 out of the province’s 149 candidates to test their luck in provincial capital

ABBOTABAD/ PESHAWAR/ BANNU/ MARDAN/ DI KHAN:

Around 149 candidates are all set to test their luck during polls in 28 wards of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s 11 cantonment boards on Saturday (today). After a gap of nearly 18 years, cantonment board elections are being held across the country.

Peshawar

Cantonment Board Peshawar (CBP) dominates the competition, with 43 aspirants eyeing the five wards of the provincial capital as 29,764 registered voters exercise their constitutional right.

CBP Returning Officer spokesperson said once elected, the five ward councillors will then elect two candidates on seats reserved for women and minorities. He said the winners will also serve as board members for five years.

Candidates from across the political spectrum are participating in the polls in Peshawar. Interestingly, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government coalition partners Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Jamaat-e-Islami are resigned to a face-off in two wards.

Furthermore, the fate of the tripartite alliance of K-P’s opposition parties also seems uncertain as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl is backing all the Awami National Party candidates. However, Pakistan Peoples Party’s three candidates are going head-to-head against alliance member ANP.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has pitted candidates in four wards and All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) is counting on just one candidate.

Out of all the competing political parties, only ANP and PTI have decided to go all out in CBP, with representatives fielded by both parties in every ward of the board.

Securing the city

Security arrangements have been augmented across the 22 polling stations in the city.

“Servicemen will be deployed in and outside the polling stations,” said a security official, adding convoys of security forces will patrol all major roads of the city as per routine.

Talking to The Express Tribune, SSP Operations Dr Mian Saeed said 200 policemen will also be deployed in different capacities.

CBP secretary Sajjad Nazir told The Express Tribune all candidates have been instructed to wind-up their campaigns. On the contrary, some of the candidates denied receiving any such instructions at all.

Meanwhile, 23 candidates are in the run for Nowshera’s four wards, 15 for Kohat’s three wards, and 12 for Risalpur’s three wards. Also, two candidates are vying for Muree Gallies Ward-I.

Mardan

Four candidates are running for Mardan Cantonment Board’s Ward-I and two for Ward-II.

ANP’s Tariq Khan and JI’s Muhammad Arif are going neck-and-neck in Ward-I while ANP’s Shakir Ali and independent candidate Haji Anwar Ali are Ward-II’s competitors.

DI Khan

Four candidates are vying for Cantonment Board DI Khan’s two wards. According to officials, voters who reside outside cantonment areas will be transported from GPO Check Post to FG School for polling. No load-shedding will be carried out during voting hours.

Abbottabad

As many as 28 candidates are vying for Cantonment Board Abbottabad’s (CBA) five seats and eight are contesting Cantonment Board Havelian’s two seats. The district’s 45,000 voters will choose between PTI, PML-N, PPP, Qaumi Watan Party, Hazara Qaumi Mahaz and independent candidates.



The CBA has declared 13 polling stations as sensitive and three as highly sensitive, out of 45 stations. Five security officials and 13 police officials will be deployed at each of the 45 while up to 20 personnel will man stations in high-risk areas.

Bannu

Preparations are also complete in Bannu cantonment as eight candidates will push for a win today.

The total number of registered voters is 3,170. A close contest is expected between PTI and JUI-F on both seats on Ward-I and Ward-II.

Early taste of victory

So far, two candidates in Cherat and one in DI Khan and one in Murree Gallies (Ward-II) each stand unopposed – which translates as a palpable victory for all four.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2015.