LG by-polls in 23 KP districts today

356 councillors to be elected; 3,520 seats to remain vacant; strict security measures taken

PESHAWAR: A total of 828 candidates are trying their luck for the 356 vacant seats in different tiers of the local government in 23 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the by-elections to be held today.

Another 3,520 mostly minority and women seats would remain vacant due to non-availability of candidates.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had earlier set January 23 for the by-elections on the vacant seats, but the polls were postponed due to the deadly terrorist attack on the Bacha Khan University, Charsadda on January 20 in which 21 students, a faculty member and other employees were killed.

According to the data provided by the Election Commission, a total of 3,886 seats of different categories are vacant in various district, town/tehsil, village/neighbourhood councils in the province. These include 3,012 seats for minority communities, 662 for women, and 194 general, 15 youth and 18 peasant seats.

Interestingly, only four minority candidates are in the field for two of the 3,012 vacant seats. This means that 3,010 minority seats would still remain vacant in the province even after the by-elections. The situation is evidence of the lack of planning and miscalculation of the authorities as resources are wasted on preparing for polls despite the non-availability of candidates.

Similarly, only 200 women candidates are contesting for 120 seats of the total 662 that are vacant. Thus 542 women seats would continue to remain vacant in different councils in the province as no candidate could come forward to file nomination papers.

As many as 443 candidates are contesting for the 188 general seats in different village/neighbourhood councils. There are 56 candidates for the 17 vacant seats of peasants/workers and 47 for the 14 vacant positions of youth.

Another 35 candidates are contesting for the seven seats in the districts councils and 43 for eight vacant seats in town/tehsil councils.

Some 574 candidates have already been declared elected unopposed. They include 61 general councillors, 467 women, four peasants/workers, eight youth and 33 from the minorities.

A total of 6,93,502 voters, including 3,98,804 male and 2,94,698 female are eligible to use their right to vote.

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the by-elections. It has established 609 polling stations and 1,748 polling booths.

A total of 609 presiding officers, 1,839 assistant presiding officers and 1,748 polling officers have been appointed.

An Election Commission official said necessary training has been imparted to the polling staff and the polling material has been handed over to them.

Special monitoring teams have been formed to monitor polling in their respective areas. Control rooms have been set up in the Election Commission Secretariat, Islamabad and office of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Election Commissioner’s office to supervise the process.

Strict security measures have been taken to ensure peaceful elections. Heavy police contingents would be deployed for maintenance of peace. The Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary would remain on red alert and ensure quick response in case of an emergency.

Some 280 polling stations have been declared most sensitive, 232 sensitive and 88 normal. Extra security personnel have been deployed at the sensitive polling stations to avert any untoward incident. The political parties have put up some candidates, but the campaigning was low-key.