The polling in merged tribal districts on Saturday for 16 general seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly remained peaceful at large. Amid unprecedented security measures, the voting process began at 8am which continued without any interval and culminated peacefully at 5pm. Security forces have been deployed inside and outside 554 highly sensitive polling stations.
The polls were conducted on 16 seats in throughout the ex-tribal agencies and as per election commission sources Khyber district had three seats ie. comprising Zakha Khel, Shinwari, Shelmani and Mulagoris localities of Landi Kotal.
According to the provincial election commissioner, results in the tribal districts will be given on WhatsApp due to a network issue in the area. Residents exercised their right to vote for the first time to elect representatives with 16 general seats of the provincial assembly up for grabs.
The election commission gave the authority of magistrate to district returning officer (DRO) and returning officers (RO) under which, they were able to take actions against violators of the code of law. Voters in PK-112 Bannu began polling amid tight security arrangements at the Government Degree College-II. Three polling stations were set up in the college to facilitate 10,000 voters.
Polling was also held in two constituencies of the Kurram district in Parachinar. The Sikh community cast votes in Peshawar, Orakzai and Khyber districts. Over 300 Sikh voters from Peshawar and Hasan Abdal took part in the balloting. Similarly, the polling for three provincial assembly seats carried out peacefully in Khyber district amid tight security to avoid any untoward incident. The voting process started at 8am and continued till 5pm without any interruption.
One of the voters, Shakil-ur-Rehman from PK-105 said I cast vote in favour of my favourite candidate in Piro Khel area of Landi Kotal in peaceful environment. He also claimed that the turnout was extremely low as compare to last year general election. Asad Khan, a presiding officer of Landi Kotal polling station told that commendable arrangements had been made by the election commission to ensure free, fair and transparent election. Voters had been properly educated on how to cast their votes, he added.
Similarly PK-106 includes tribes of Koki khel,Janda Khel,Kamr Khel and Malikdin Khel and PK-107 contains areas of Kamber Khel, Sepah, Aka Khel and Shalober areas of Bara. Registered voters in PK-105 are 167484, comprised 94514 male while 72970 female votes. In PK-106, registered voters are 148470 including 82818 male and 65652 female registered voters. Similarly total registered voters in PK-107 are 216133, containing 123683 male and 92450 female votes.
In PK-105, total 110 polling stations had been set up in which 58 for male while 44 stations were reserved for female. Eight combined polling station were also initiated to facilitate voters. Likewise in PK-106 total 89 polling stations had been planned - 48 stations were specified for male while 38 were for female voters. Three combined polling stations were also established for the voters.
In the same way in PK-107, total 146 polling stations had been instituted, containing 75 polling stations for male and 55 were for female voters. Sixteen combined polling stations had been also set up in the area. Fifty six polling stations had been declared most sensitive and extra security was provided. After expiring of the time fixed for polling, counting was started and the officials began compiling results.
Pertaining result of the contests, election commissioner, Khyber Nadeem Khan told that they had been directed to announce results of the election till 2am, wee hours of Sunday to shun confusion. He added that facilities had been provided to election crews to send their results on time.
Reuters adds: The result of the vote for the provincial assembly is unlikely to have much direct impact on national politics or Prime Minister Imran Khan's government in Islamabad. But the election marks a significant milestone for a region that has been a byword for unrest since before the days of the British rulers of India, who generally left tribal elders to administer their own justice in a system that continued after Pakistan gained its independence in 1947.
"It is a historic day," said Ajmal Wazir, the government's adviser on the tribal areas. "The polling process is continuing smoothly." The elections will see 16 seats contested by 285 candidates from all the main national parties as well as independents. But the issue of how parliamentary democracy can be brought to a region that was for centuries governed by often harsh tribal custom has added uncertainty to the process.
Tens of thousands of troops and special police units have been sent to the province for polling day but there were many complaints of vote-rigging and influence peddling by some of the candidates and their supporters. "It's the first time we are electing our representatives for the provincial assembly but unfortunately most of the candidates are lavishly spending money on their political campaigns and buying votes," said one tribesman, Bilal Rahman Afridi, in Jamrud subdivision of Khyber tribal district. "How can they serve us when they are elected on the basis of their wealth?" he asked.
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