KARACHI: The ruling PTI suffered a major setback on Monday after the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) candidate won the seat for the coveted post of Peshawar mayor in the first local government elections held in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa since the merger of tribal districts, according to unofficial and unverified results.

According to the unofficial results, JUI-F’s Zubair Ali a relative of Maulana Fazlur Rehman won with a margin of around 11,500 votes after securing 62,388. PTI’s Rizwan Bangash received 50,669 votes and PPP’s Zarak Arbab got 45,000 votes.

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The unofficial results also show that the opposition parties have a combined lead over the ruling PTI for the post of mayor/chairman of the 63 tehsil councils.

According to the unofficial results from 30 tehsils, the JUI-F is leading with 13 seats, followed by the ruling PTI (6), PML-N (3), Awami National Party (3), Jamaat-i-Islami (1) and PPP (1). Meanwhile, independent candidates have secured three seats.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021