KP governor also proposes polls on Oct 8

PESHAWAR: KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali on Friday proposed holding polls for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly also on October 8, stating the prevailing law and order was not satisfactory.

The governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan on the date for the polls in the province. He mentioned a series of terrorist incidents in the province in the last few weeks, including the latest incident in which Brigadier Mustafa Burki was martyred.

The letter stated that since the ECP had postponed the elections in Punjab till October 8, the same date should be appointed for holding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well.

The KP Assembly was dissolved in January and a caretaker set up was installed to run the affairs of the province till the holding of polls. With the new development, the polls in the province are not likely to be held soon.

Governor Ghulam Ali, a few days back, had sent a nine-page report to the Election Commission of Pakistan on the deteriorating law and order situation in the province and asked to consult all the stakeholders before announcing the date for the polls.

The governor KP admitted that the law and order situation had deteriorated in the past many months. Ghulam Ali in the letter said that during the reconciliation process, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had increased influence in Pakhtun areas of the country and started a massive terrorist drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Currently, the trajectory of terrorist incidents is going upward,” stated the letter by the KP governor to the ECP. It continued that polio and census teams had come under attack in KP, especially merged areas.

The letter mentioned that operations are underway in many areas and may take a few months to restore peace. It also discussed the shortage of security personnel, fragile financial conditions, ongoing census and other issues.

The letter to the ECP also stated that the majority of political parties had developed a consensus that general elections for the national and provincial assemblies be scheduled at the same time.