Election 2018 highlights

PESHAWAR: The leaders of as many as seven political parties and three aspirants for the office of prime minister contesting from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, more woman candidates than ever, and members of transgender community entering the electoral race for the first time are some of the salient features of the July 2018 Election in the province.

Here are some of the highlights:

* Aspirants for the prime minister’s job are Shahbaz Sharif contesting from Swat, Imran Khan from Bannu and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from Malakand.

* Beside the three mentioned above, four other heads of political parties in the race are JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Sirajul Haq, Awami National Party’s Asfandyar Wali Khan and Qaumi Watan Party’s Aftab Sherpao.

* Four former chief ministers in the field are PTI’s Pervez Khattak, ANP’s Ameer Haider Hoti, JUI-F’s Akram Khan Durrani and QWP’s Aftab Sherpao.

* Two former Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also entered the fray and both are contesting as independent candidates. Retired Lt Gen Iftikhar Hussain Shah didn’t get the PTI ticket, but this didn’t deter him and he is now candidate for a provincial assembly seat from his hometown Kohat. Engineer Shaukatullah, former governor and federal minister, is fighting for a National Assembly seat from his native Bajaur.

* This will be the first time that at least three prominent activists of the recently formed Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a rights-based movement of the youth, will be taking part in the election. Ali Wazir is contesting for the National Assembly seat from South Waziristan, Mohsin Dawar from North Waziristan and Abdullah Nangyal from the one seat meant for the six tribal subdivisions (known as Frontier Regions before Fata’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

* A contest between two leading cigarette manufacturers belonging to Swabi has kept the people engrossed in the district. Former minister Shahram Tarakai, fielded by the PTI this time after merger of Tarakai family’s party, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan, with the Imran Khan-led party, has been challenged Ijaz Akram Bacha for the provincial assembly seat. The two families were allies and Tarakais benefited from support by the late Said Akram Bacha’s family in previous elections, but something happened and they turned into bitter foes. No wonder money is flowing in this constituency as both candidates are fabulously rich.