PESHAWAR: The local government (LG) elections are being held (Saturday) today in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after a gap of 10 years with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) using all means to win the maximum number of seats.
However, the opposition parties are also utilising their energies and resources to give a tough time to the ruling parties led by the PTI and including the Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan (AJIP).
The local government elections are one of the major electoral exercises that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have ever experienced as 41,262 councillors for the three-tier system – district councils, town/tehsil councils and village/neighbourhood councils – would be elected from among around 85,000 candidates in the field.
There would hardly be any family in the province that has not fielded a candidate or isn’t related to a contestant. The huge participation of the candidates in the electoral process would ensure a good turnout in the polls compared to the previous elections.
No political party has entered into a formal alliance for contesting the elections in the whole province. All the parties have made alliances and adjustments at the district and local levels and some are making solo flights in most of the districts.
Some very unusual alliances and adjustments have also been made like that of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Mardan.
The PTI made adjustments at certain seats in Buner district with the JUI-F, though the leadership of both the parties has denied it. The party has also forged an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Hazara Division, though it denies it. Everyone is making efforts to get the maximum number of seats in every tier.
A split mandate is expected in 24 districts. The PTI is expected to win the majority of seats in five to six districts, PML-N in four to five, ANP in three to four, JI in three, JUI-F in three and PPP in one or two.
The PTI might be able to emerge victorious in the provincial capital Peshawar, in Nowshera, the native district of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, and Swabi, where it is allied with its two coalition partners, JI and AJIP, in the provincial government. It may also maintain its grip on Kohat and Karak.
In Peshawar and Nowshera, the PTI is making a solo flight and it would face a tough contest from the three-party alliance of ANP, PPP and JUI-F. The JI has got some strong candidates in the provincial capital and they could do well at the polls.
The ANP would give a tough time to the ruling PTI in Nowshera and Mardan, though the situation in both the districts has seen drastic changes after the mammoth gatherings there that were addressed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan two days back.The ANP-JUI-F alliance could carry the day in Mardan and Charsadda.
The JI-PPP alliance in Mardan is also poised to bag seats in a district that saw an unprecedented development work during the rule of Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti-led previous provincial government. The PTI is also confident of victory in Mardan after Imran Khan’s public meeting on May 27.
In Charsadda, the popularity of Aftab Sherpao-led Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) cannot be ignored. The JI, too, is hoping to improve its performance in Charsadda.In the Malakand district, the JI-JUI-F alliance is expected to win the majority of seats. In the Upper Dir and Lower Dir districts, the JI is hopeful of retaining its vote-bank, though it is scared of the PTI’s rising popularity in Lower Dir.
In Swat, the PTI may suffer a setback at the hands of ANP, JI and JUI-F, while in Shangla the Amir Muqam factor would earn a victory for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). It would, however, face a tough time from the PTI in the wake of the impressive show of strength by Imran Khan a few weeks back.
In almost all the districts of Hazara, the PML-N is likely to maintain its pace of victories despite the PTI challenge. In most of the southern districts of the province, the JUI-F seems to have the edge.
There are a number of influential figures contesting for the upper tiers of the local government in an independent capacity and a good number of them would make it to the district and tehsil councils.
Special attention is being focused on women participation in the polling. The government is urging women to step out of their homes to cast their votes.The women rights organisations have also been making efforts to ensure better participation of female voters in the local government elections.
However, the government has been unable to provide proper facilities and hold training sessions for participation of women in the electoral process.A large number of polling stations, particularly in the remote and conservative areas of the province, would be used by both male and female voters. This could prove a source of discouragement for the female voters to cast their ballots.
