People’s despair: No favourite in Shangla bypolls

Locals in the region demand a representative who cares.

SWAT: The electioneering in Shangla District is gaining momentum as major political parties are canvassing for their candidates for PK-87 Shangla-1 provincial assembly seat which fell vacant after the death of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) member Mohammad Zahir Shah Khan.

Polling for the constituency will be held on January 24.

Tough competition is expected between the candidates of Awami national Party (ANP) and PML-Q. The deceased MPA’s son Mohammed Rishad Khan is vying for his father’s seat against ANP’s Mohammed Yar Khan. The Q league member of the National Assembly from the area is already campaigning for his candidate. However, this time local people seem unhappy with all of the political parties, putting strict conditions before the candidates.

Shangla has remained neglected for the last sixty years but this time we will not allow any politician to exploit us. The neglect of the area can be judged from the fact that there is no electricity, hospital, telephone and mobile service even in 2011 while the road condition is very bad,” said Abbasi Development Council Shangla President Kabir Khan.

Criticising the political parties, he said, “Our elders always voted for those who deceived them and have done nothing; but this time we will not repeat the same mistakes and will vote for those who will sincerely work for us.”

“Money always remained the driving force behind past elections in district Shangla, and those who used more money were successful; if that culture is repeated by any candidate, he will definitely be successful,”  said human rights activist Advocate Ziauddin Yousafzai.

“Although our present MNA is a deputy parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, two-thirds of our area is still deprived of electricity, educational institutions and healthcare facilities. There is no healthcare centre for women,” he added.

Particularly, two tehsils — Shah Pur and Alpurai (Ghwarband) — have been ignored for the last nine years because Amir Muqam and Fazlullah belong to another tehsil — Puran. Majority of the development projects have been executed in Puran while the rest of the district remained neglected. The main reason behind this is ineffective and minimal representation from those areas.

Talking on the political setup, Attaur Rahman, a lecturer belonging to Olandar area of Shangla District told The Express Tribune, “We are completely disappointed with the public representatives, as the roads which were washed away by the floods were only reinstalled along the rivers and streams temporarily and a single rainstorm can ruin them again. We need a person who seriously takes steps for the betterment of our area.”

Giving his opinion regarding the uplift of the area he said, “In my view, the candidate of the ANP will be a bit better for the area because the provincial government also belongs to the same party.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2011.