PTI emerges largest party in tribal districts

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the largest political party in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) where out of 12 National Assembly constituencies the party candidates secured six seats in the July 25 general election.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) grabbed three National Assembly seats from Orakzai, North Waziristan and former Frontier Regions while Pakistan People's Party's candidate was elected from one of the National Assembly constituencies from Kurram tribal district.

Two independent candidates associated with Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) Mohammad Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar were elected from North and South Waziristan districts. According to unofficial results, Guldad Khan of the PTI got 34,616 votes while Sardar Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami, who contested elections in an independent capacity, stood second with 17,850 votes on NA-40, Bajaur. A former governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shaukatullah, PPP's Syed Akhunzada Chattan and ANP's Gul Afzal Khan were also contesting from the same constituency.

Similarly, Gul Zafar Khan of the PTI grabbed 22,730 votes and made it to the National Assembly from NA-41 Bajaur whereas his main rival was Qari Abdul Majeed, who contested elections in an independent capacity with election symbol Matka (pitcher).

A former MNA Shahabuddin Khan, MMA candidate Abdul Rasheed and Gulzada Khan of the ANP were also contestants in the same constituency. In the lone National Assembly constituency of Mohmand district, the PTI candidate Sajid Khan secured 22,730 votes against independent candidate Bilal Rehman's 21,076 votes on NA-42. The MMA candidate and former MNA Maulana Ghulam Sadiq, ANP's Nisar Ahmad and Jamaat-e-Islami's Mohammad Saeed were also contesting elections from the constituency.

A former MNA Noorul Haq Qadri was elected on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ticket on NA-43, Khyber tribal district, while former MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi remained runner-up as an independent candidate.

In the second National Assembly constituency from Khyber, PTI's Iqbal Afridi was elected to the lower house of the parliament. A former MNA Munir Khan Orakzai got elected on the MMA ticket from Kurram's NA-45 where the PTI candidate Syed Jamal stood second.

A former MNA Sajid Hussain Turi retained his National Assembly seat on the PPP ticket from NA-46, Kurram, while Jawad Hussain of the PTI secured 11,102 votes against MMA Qasim Gul's 6,888 votes on NA-47 Orakzai Agency where Habib Noor of Muttahida Qabail Party was also one of the main candidates.

Independent candidate Mohsin Dawar advocate, who is also an active leader of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, was elected to the National Assembly on NA-49, North Waziristan while another PTM central leader Mohammad Ali Wazir made it to the Lower House of the Parliament from NA-50, South Waziristan tribal district.

Mohammad Jamal of the MMA was elected to National Assembly from NA-49, South Waziristan, where PTI candidate Dost Mohammad Khan remained runner-up in the same constituency. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl head for tribal areas Mufti Abdul Shakoor, who was contesting on the MMA ticket, was elected to the Parliament by securing 21,856 votes against independent candidate Bazgul Afridi of Darra Adamkhel subdivision.