JUI-F, allies win Bannu district, Tehsil nazim slots

BANNU: The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and its allies won the election for the district and tehsil council held here Thursday.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) boycotted the exercise following mismanagement and physical fight between the coucillors of the PTI and JUI-F and its allies. Irfan Khan Durrani of the JUI-F was elected district nazim while Pir Munir of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was elected as naib nazim.

The candidates of the JUI-F and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) were elected tehsil nazim and naib nazim unopposed as the PTI boycotted the election process. Malik Ihsan of the JUI-F was elected tehsil nazim while Dr Muhammad Riaz Khan of the JI was elected as his deputy.

The Bacha Khan Hall of the district council turned into a battlefield as the councillors of the rival political parties chanted slogans and threw chairs at each other. The session was called to take oath from the district and tehsil councillors and elect district and tehsil nazims and naib nazims.

The PTI announced boycott of the process after the mismanagement at the session and fight among the councilors. The PTI rejected the results of the election.

Speaking at a press conference, the PTI candidate for district nazim slot Malik Gul Baz Khan and tehsil council nazim Malik Khalid Khan alleged that the elections were engineered.

They alleged that the kidnapping of 11 PTI councillors ahead of the elections, inaction and silence of the district administration and police on the matter and the issuance of the schedule for the election in haste by the Election Commission of Pakistan seemed to be part of a well-thought plan. The candidates alleged that those accused of kidnapping councillors were present in the district council hall but no action was taken against them.

They urged the ECP to annul the election and announce re-election for the district and tehsil councils or else they would challenge the election in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The journalists staged a protest as they were barred from covering the event.