Tag: KP LG Polls

  • Supreme Court orders ECP to decide schedule for KP LG polls’ second phase today

    Supreme Court orders ECP to decide schedule for KP LG polls’ second phase today

    The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take a decision by Tuesday (today) on the second phase of local government (LG) elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

    Initially, the second phase of LG polls in 18 districts of KP was to be held in the last week of January, but it was rescheduled by the ECP through a Dec 30, 2021 order on applications filed by local MNAs and MPAs.

    On Jan 20 this year, the ECP issued a notification announcing the holding of the second phase of LG elections in KP on March 27.

    But on February 1, the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) Abbottabad bench had, in a verbal order, postponed the elections after accepting petitions of residents of five districts of KP on the grounds that these districts were expected to remain under snow in the last week of March due to heavy snow accumulation and, therefore, it would not be possible to set up polling stations.

    During Monday’s hearing, KP Advocate General Shumail Butt opposed the new election schedule, saying the ECP had not consulted the province before issuing the new election date. 

  • No difference between us and them’: PM Khan dissolves all PTI organisations

    No difference between us and them’: PM Khan dissolves all PTI organisations

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Friday announced that after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) suffered a huge setback in the first phase of the recently held local government (LG) elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the party has decided to dissolve its organisational structure.

    During the meeting of the party spokespersons, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan was dissatisfied with the party’s performance in KP local body polls.

    “But the way tickets were awarded […] PTI does not believe in dynastic politics. PM Imran has never let his personal relations affect his mission,” informed Fawad, while addressing the media.

    Criticising how tickets were distributed, PM Khan said that candidates should be awarded party tickets on merit, which is the opposite of what happened in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

    “If that culture seeps into the PTI, there will be no difference between us and them,” said the premier.

    The prime minister — after consulting with the party leadership — has decided to dissolve all organisations from the centre to the tehsils, Fawad said. “Chief organisers and all office bearers have been removed from their positions,” he said.

    “It has also been decided that the local leadership will not award party tickets when it comes to their relatives. A special committee will be formed where the case will be forwarded and it will decide whether or not to award the ticket.”

    Earlier, PM Imran Khan directed the Punjab government and PTI leadership to begin homework for the upcoming local government elections in the province, adding that he would personally oversee the preparations.

    “The government and party leadership should strictly select candidates on merit and avoid dynastic politics, which was exposed after causing damage to the party in KP,” said PM Khan.

    “The mistakes made in KP must not be repeated in Punjab,” he stressed. With candidates selected on merit, PM Khan said, the PTI would give a tough time to its opponents in the local government elections in Punjab.

  • PM grills KP CM, loss due to candidate selection based on favouritism

    PM grills KP CM, loss due to candidate selection based on favouritism

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Wednesday received a brief report on the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) defeat in the recent local government (LG) polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), indicating ‘wrong’ selection of candidates based on ‘favouritism’.

    A source in the Prime Minister Office (PMO) told Dawn that the performance report was presented by KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan who was also grilled by PM Khan for not fielding ‘deserving’ and ‘poll-winning’ candidates.

    The premier during his visit to Lahore (Thursday) in Punjab will select the best possible candidates and prepare well for the local government polls, which are expected to be held in the province in March or April next year.

    On Wednesday, PM Khan said amidst all the noise over the election result, nobody appreciated the fact that the government had empowered the LG system for the first time in 74-year history of Pakistan.

    The premier took to Twitter and wrote, “Directly elected Tehsil nazims will improve governance & create [a] future leader. Ist time in our 74-yr history we have an empowered LG system.”

    “No one realises these elections are [the] start of modern, devolved LG system as exists in successful democracies,” tweeted PM Khan.

  • KP LG polls: Ruling PTI loses mayors to Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F

    KP LG polls: Ruling PTI loses mayors to Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F

    The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)  faced a major upset on multiple seats in the first phase of local government (LG) elections held in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa (KP) at the hands of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

    Mayor seat elections:

    Peshawar:

    JUI-F’s Zubair Ali won the race with 62,388 votes while PTI’s Rizwan Bangash was second with 50,659 votes.

    JUI-F’s Zubair Ali
    Mardan:

    In Mardan, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Himayatullah Mayar won the seat with 56,458 votes while JUI-F’s Amanat Shah Haqqani was in second place with 49,938 votes.

    ANP’s Himayatullah Mayar
    Kohat:

    Sher Zaman of JUI-F won the mayor seat with 34,434 votes and independent candidate Shafiullah Jan was in second place with 25,793 votes.

    Sher Zaman of JUI-F
    Bannu:

    JUI-F’s Irfanullah Durrani has been declared the winner with 59,844 votes and PTI’s Iqbal Jadoon Khan was second with 47,398 votes.

    JUI-F’s Irfanullah Durrani

    JUI-F emerges victorious in 16 tehsil council seats, PTI wins 14, as per unofficial results, reports Geo News.

  • KP LG polls: PTI loses, Shibli Faraz says party lost because of ‘PTI vs PTI’

    In the first phase of local government elections held in Khyber Pakhtun­khwa (KP), Opposition parties have had a combined lead over the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), according to unofficial results.

    Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said that the ruling party lost because “PTI was contesting against PTI”.

    “If it was not PTI vs PTI, we would have really won the elections. The results are still being announced. It was a crucial election but our performance has been really good,” said Shibli.

    The PTI is ahead on 15 seats followed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) 13, Awami National Party (ANP) nine, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) two, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) one each — which totals up to 26 seats for the Opposition parties as per unofficial and unverified results. Meanwhile, independent candidates are in the lead on 13 seats, reports Dawn.

    In all, 12.668 million voters — seven million male and five and a half million female — were registered for the polls in the 17 KP districts.

    In the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), local government elections were held for the first time in Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur districts.