Pakistan Elections

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Nationalist, progressive parties lead in NWFP

By our correspondent

PESHAWAR: Candidates backed by nationalist and progressive political parties were leading the count on Thursday night in the first phase of local bodies (LB) elections held in 12 district of the NWFP.

Except for a single incident of violence in which three persons were killed in DI Khan, the home district of Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, elections in 11 other districts of the province remained peaceful though there were counter claims of rigging in some districts particularly Nowshera.

Unofficial result of 69 out of 92 union councils (UCs) of Peshawar showed that Al-Khidmat Group of Jama’at-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam achieved victories in 29 UCs. The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP)-led Awam Dost Group grabbed 18 UCs seats while the ANP-led Watan Dost Group 14 in Peshawar and Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) seven.

Seven UCs were jointly won by the PPPP and Jama’at-e-Islami and the activists within the two allies said they could form the next district governments like in the past. ANP central leader Syed Aqil Shah claimed that his Watan Dost Group was leading in all the five districts of Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Buner and Swabi, thus claiming that Watan Dost was emerging as the single largest group across the province.

The Jama’at-e-Islami provincial General Secretary Mushtaq Ahmad Khan told The News late night that they would form government in four districts, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Buner.

According to results, the ANP grabbed 30 seats in Mardan, Al-Khidmat Group 15 and the PPP (Sherpao) 12. The Jama’at and the ANP had formed government in Mardan in the past.

Dr Iqbal Khalil, former speaker and former JI Peshawar Ameer, who is also the head of the Al-Khidmat Group, said his party emerged victorious and would jointly form government with PPPP. "We will include the JUI-F in the next government because they were a part of the MMA," he said.

According to unofficial results, Watan Dost Group won 15 seats in district Swabi out of 48 and 14 in Charsadda. It clinched 30 seats in Mardan out of the total 75 besides leading the count in several union councils of Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Buner districts.

In Nowshera, PPPP and ANP were in competition. A spokesman of Pakistan People’s Party (Sherpao) claimed the party had won 17 UCs nazim seats in Charsadda and seven in Peshawar.

In DI Khan, the PPP of Alizai Group emerged as the single majority group while JUI-F was expected to win several seats of Nazims in both DI Khan and Bannu. The ANP was again in competition with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) in Bannu and Kohat. The party also won the UC Nazim seats from Tank.

In Kohat, tough contests were held but group positions were unclear till our going to the press. Haripur is the traditional stronghold of the PML and reports reaching from the district suggested that PML-Q was leading on several seats of UCs Nazims.

The brother of a provincial minister and MMA leader, Akhtar Nawaz Khan, lost contest to Sikandar Hayat. A number of independent candidates have also won the elections in all the districts, results suggest.

Results from DI Khan, Tank, Karak, Kohat, Haripur, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda and Bannu were awaited. Since there were electoral alliances among the political and religious groups, it was difficult to assume as to which party had won majority of the seats of councillors that will play an important role in the election of district Nazims after the completion of second phase of local bodies polls on August 25.

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Pakistanis vote amid claims of election rigging
By Jo Johnson in Islamabad and Farhan Bokhari in Peshawar
Published: August 18 2005 17:52 | Last updated: August 18 2005 17:52


Military-ruled Pakistan began holding nationwide elections for the first time in three years on Thursday amid claims of widespread vote-rigging and of women being barred from casting ballots in many constituencies across the Islamist-dominated North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The two-phase elections to municipal councils are a key step in the country's slow-moving return to full democracy six years after a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf and will setthe stage for the vital elections for provincial and national legislatures planned for 2007.

The direct voting, which concludes next Thursday, is seen as a critical test of strength of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), the “King's party” that backs Gen Musharraf, who is in ever greater need of political support as he attempts to crack down on Islamic extremism.

A strong performance by the PML (Q) will influence the extent to which a Gen Musharraf feels the need to broaden his political base by reaching out to the exiled leaders of the two main liberal political parties, the Pakistan People's party of Benazir Bhutto and the Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif.

“If the PML (Q) does well, it can persuade President Musharraf that he can afford only to rely on them and does not need a reconciliation with other parties,” says one western diplomat who has been pushing the Pakistani leader to strengthen his position by winning over the centre-left PPP.

He added: “Our analysis shows he would be unableto win the 2007 elections with only the support ofthe PML (Q) and that this might in turn compel himto manipulate the 2007elections to get a working majority.”

Voter turnout has been falling in Pakistan because of widespread pre-poll rigging and this election, which has been relatively calm, is expected to follow the pattern. “People are getting less interested because they know votes are rigged,” said another western diplomat. “In the 1970s the turnout would be 50-60 per cent. Now it's in the low 40s.”

The recent return to Pakistan of Ms Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari saw some PPP party workers jailed under anti-terrorist legislation. Women's organisations in Punjab, a province controlled by the ruling PML (Q), have complained they have been prevented from campaigning.

In parts of the NWFP, ruled by the main alliance of Islamic parties known as the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), councils of elders have moved to ban women from voting and have resisted apparently weak government pressure to reverse their decisions.

In one polling station in Peshawar, the NWFP capital, western election observers found more than 300 votes cast by men from a total of more than 700 registered voters butonly eight women had cast votes from more than 500 registered.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Slightly off topic, but are there any district results for the 2002 Pakistan Parliamentary elections?

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http://www.ecp.gov.pk/content/Stat.html


Its on a huge huge huge PDF file though.