First phase of LG polls in KP: PTI, opposition parties’ gains translated into NA seats would overturn 2018 outcome

ISLAMABAD: Twenty-five out of a total of 29 National Assembly seats which fell in the 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where the local council elections have just been held, had been won by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the 2018 parliamentary polls.

Of the remaining four federal seats three-- from Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Tank-- had been bagged by the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) while one from Mardan had been clinched by the Awami National Party (ANP).

If the PTI’s gains in the first phase of local government polls are taken into consideration and translated into National Assembly seats, its approximate tally would revolve around just a few seats -- less than half a dozen.

The PTI lost in the districts that have more National Assembly seats than most other regions. Peshawar contributed the maximum number of five National Assembly seats. In 2018, the PTI had won all of them. In the local elections, it has been swept away here as it got just one Tehsil chairman elected while five similar slots went to the JUI-F and one to the ANP.

The PTI had bagged two of the three federal seats from Mardan with one having been secured by the ANP. However, it has got nothing in the local polls from the area as the ANP has snatched away the position of the city mayor and the JUIF was victorious in all the tehsils.

Charsadda district, where the PTI had won both the federal seats in 2018, presented a similarly grim picture for the party in the local bodies elections. It could not win even a single post of Tehsil chairman out of three berths. In its home ground, the ANP also faced humiliation.

The PTI had won both the National Assembly seats in the general elections from Swabi. Now, out of the four tehsils, it could manage just one while the remaining three were secured by the JUIF, ANP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).

Previously, the PTI had clinched both the federal seats from Dera Ismail Khan. In the recent local polls, it got one Tehsil chairman elected while the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami and two independents won in four other Tehsils.The city mayor election was postponed due to the killing of the ANP candidate.

In Khyber, the PTI had been triumphant in both the National Assembly seats. Its nominee got himself elected as the Tehsil chairman while two similar posts have been taken by the Tehreek-e-Islah Pakistan (TIP) and JUIF.

Both the federal seats from Bajaur had been clinched by the PTI in 2018. The positions of two Tehsil chairmen had been won by the JUIF and Jamaat-e-Islami while in Mamond Tehsil, polling had been postponed due to a suicide attack.

The single federal seat each from Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Mohmand, Lakki Marwat and Harirpur, except those from Bannu and Tank, had been taken by the PTI in the last general elections. It lost in these areas in the local polls. In Bannu, the stronghold of the JUI-F, the PTI managed to win two seats of Tehsil chairmen.

Of the two Tehsil chairmen from Hangu, the JUIF got one while an independent was also returned. In Karak, the PTI won two seats of Tehsil chairmen while the third similar post was taken by the JUIF.

In Lakki Marwat, three independents (fielded by the famous Saifullah group) were elected Tehsil chairmen while one position went to the Jamaat-e-Islami. In Mohmand, the JUIF got two Tehsil chiefs elected while the third one was grabbed by the PTI. In Tank, both the posts of the Tehsil chairmen were taken by the JUIF.

Buner district had a share of only one seat in the National Assembly that had also been won by the PTI in 2018. Here, of the six tehsils, it was successful in five while the ANP took the remaining one seat.

The PTI had bagged both the federal seats from Nowshera. In the local polls, its nominees secured two slots of the Tehsil chairmen while one went to the JUIF. The JUIF was able to win three slots of city mayors and the ANP got one while the PTI took none.

The next and last phase of local elections in KP will be held in the remaining 15 districts, which have 22 out of a total of 51 seats allocated to KP. Of them, the PTI had secured 12 seats while the JUIF had bagged four, the PMLN had taken three and PPP had got one. Two independents – Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir – had also been successful.

The PTI’s 12 federal seats out of 22 from the districts where the local polls would be held in January and 25 out of 29 seats in the areas where the electoral exercise has now been held, demonstrate that in 2018 it had performed exceedingly well in the areas selected for the first phase compared to those regions picked up for the second phase.

The 15 remaining districts are Chitral, Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Malakand Protected Area, Shangla, Kohistan, Batagram, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Kurram Agency, Orakzai Agency, North Waziristan, South Waziristan and FR-Tribal Areas. They include the erstwhile tribal areas, which have been merged into KP.