HYDERABAD: Almost one fourth of the more than 3,000 seats up for contest in the local government (LG) elections in Hyderabad division, which consists of nine districts, have been won unopposed.
KARACHI:
LAHORE: Lack of a vigorous campaign unlike the one for NA-122, no criteria for selection of candidates, politics of confrontation and infighting are among the factors that led to the debacle of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the first phase of local body elections in the city on Oct 31, reveal background interviews with party leaders.
Leaders, both provincial and local, admitted the PTI could not run an effective campaign as it had for the by-election in NA-122.
LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) set the tone for some more bitter and confrontational politics when it rejected the results of the first phase of the local government elections in Punjab and Sindh.
“The election was a fraud,” said PTI chairman’s political adviser Ejaz Chaudhry, dispelling expectations of some calm returning to national politics.
LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party leaders MNA Faryal Talpur, Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal and several other lawmakers led several rallies taken out in various areas of Larkana district on Monday to celebrate the party’s victory in the first phase of the local government election amid continued protest by the opposition parties over what they described as massive rigging.
LAHORE: The Election Commission of Pakistan should declare the local government elections in the province null and void, Ejaz Chaudhry, political adviser to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, said at a press conference on Monday.
He said the party’s performance could not be attributed to selection of candidates. He said poor selection might have been responsible for defeat in only a few constituencies. The use of state machinery by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was responsible for the PTI’s poor performance in the elections, he said.
THE trend that emerged after the end of polling for LG elections in 12 districts of Punjab and eight of Sindh on Saturday took root on Sunday with the ruling parties in both the provinces achieving commanding positions.
Independent candidates in the two provinces claimed most seats after the PML-N and PPP. The PML-N grabbed 1,192 of 2,696 UC seats in Punjab while the PPP in Sindh won 2,700 out of the 3,800 seats. Chakwal, however, was a different story. In contrast to N’s winning streak elsewhere, independents bagged 33 of the 68 seats against PML-N’s 28.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is gearing up for victory in Punjab with a total of 1,195 seats while in Sindh, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is reportedly ahead with a firm grip on 767 seats, according to the unofficial results of first phase of the local government polls.
According to the unofficial statistics, the independent candidates have clinched 1,239 seats followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which managed to grab only 285 seats.
Several major players in Faisalabad politics faced a surprising defeat in the local government elections on Saturday. No one political group has gained a majority and most of the seats have been swept by independent candidates.
Of the 346 seats in Faisalabad district, 166 seats went to independents, followed by the PML-N which won 134 seats, the PTI bagged 36 seats and the PPP four. Elections were postponed for three union councils and the results of three seats have not been announced.
LAHORE: The government announced on Sunday that winners in the second phase of local government elections would not be allowed to arrange celebratory processions.
The decision was made at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The meeting reviewed the steps taken for maintaining order during the first phase of elections.
LAHORE / KARACHI: Polling during the first phase of the local government elections in 12 districts of Punjab was relatively peaceful but marked with irregularities and illegalities, suggesting weak grip of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the electoral process, said the Fair and Free Election Network (Fafen) on Sunday.
It said that despite some irregularities the polling in eight districts of Sindh was conducted in a better way as compared to the past elections in the province.
Amhad Mahmood.-
LAHORE: Of the registered 20.12 million voters in the 12 Punjab districts, where local council polls are being held on Saturday, several may find problems in locating their vote and polling station because of anomalies in voter lists and polling scheme.
The irregularities in voter lists cropped up when the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) adopted bloc codes (division of area in a certain way) to prepare computerised lists, arranged by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for population census in 2012. But the census was left incomplete.
On the eve of local government elections in Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan lambasted the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allegedly using violence to intimidate his party, likening its actions to that of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Local government candidates from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have been campaigning aggressively for elections in Union Council-220, Wafaqi Colony.
They say the densely-populated area is plagued with problems. Both claim to be the only hope for their constituency.
PTI’s candidate for vice chairman Naseer Bhalla says provision of basic facilities is on top of his agenda. He says opening public schools in the neighbourhood was another priority.
Ammar Sheikh.-
The Jamaat-i-Islami and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will battle it out in Union Council 112. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has withdrawn its candidates for chairman and vice chairman to clear the field for JI in the area traditionally considered a PML-N stronghold.
JI’s Ammanullah Khan is vying for chairman and Mazhar Jillani for vice chairman. According to the deal they struck with the PTI, they have planned to split the ward councillor seats between them.
Rana Tanveer.-
Providing an uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity, across the board employment and lower tariff on electricity may seem like wishful thinking, but they are on top of the agenda of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidates in Union Council 38.
The candidates feel that they need to promise the sun and the moon to starry-eyed supporters, because, “how else will we win their hearts?”
Sarfaraz Memon.-
The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is adamant to sweep the local government (LG) elections on Saturday. So much so that it has been accused of influencing officials to cancel the nomination papers of opponents, making rival candidates withdraw in favour of their own and reshuffling polling staff at the eleventh hour.
LARKANA: Sindh United Party (SUP) chairman Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah feared on Wednesday that the way the candidates of anti-PPP parties were being kidnapped, harassed and forced to change loyalties and step down, the excesses might repeat the 1977-like situation when Maulana Jan Muhammed Abbasi had been abducted and elections declared null and void.
BAHAWALPUR: At least 44 candidates from the PML-N, 35 from the PTI, five from the PPP and over 100 independent candidates are in the run for the local body elections in 47 municipal committee wards of Bahawalnagar city where 153,437 voters are registered.
