Dir voters and candidates lose trust in LG system

F.P. Report

TIMERGARA: Political parties and their voters in Lower Dir are losing confidence in local government system of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owing to its powerlessness, lack of funds and no role in decision making.

Political activists affiliated with different political parties on Wednesday told that people had attached great expectations with LG representatives and they had wholeheartedly participated in local bodies polls held in 2015 but gradually they lost confidence in the system.

The said that due to lack of funds, no role in decision making and less powers majority of voters in Lower Dir boycotted the Tuesday re-polling of LG vacant seats in different parts of the district as protest against the election commission of Pakistan’s decision to hold by-election for the third time on these seats. The ECP held LG by election for third time on 16 vacant seats including 2 tehsil council wards, 8 general councilors, 4 youth councilors and one each women and peasant worker seats in Lower Dir on April, 17.

Voters both men and women showed up in large number in Talash where re-polling was held on three polling stations for Shahikhel tehsil council ward. The Pakistan People Party candidate Manzoor Ahmad retained his seat and defeated the JI’s Gul Hakim Khan by 58 votes.

In Samar Bagh the voters boycotted the re-polling on one tehsil council seat, two general councilors and one youth seats. Only 147 voters cast votes in 14 polling stations in Samar Bagh and Munda tehsils. The JI Aziz ur Rehman got 81, PTI’s Sarbiland Khan bagged 49 and the ANP candidate got only 17 votes for tehsil council ward. The participation of 147 voters out of 17321 speaks volume of the voters’ interest. In Dec, 2017 by-election on this seat the JI candidate had bagged 2101 votes, PTI’s Sarbiland Khan 1534 votes and ANP’s Aqeel Muhammad had got 1040 votes. A total of 4789 voters had cast votes. The ECP had declared its results null and void due to zero per cent of women participation.

In Adenzai too, the voters completely boycotted the Tuesday re-polling on two youth and one general councilor seats. The voters in Maidan also did not take part in election on one youth, one general and one woman reserved seats. The JI former district secretary information Engineer Yaqub ur Rehman said the voters were fed up with frequent LG election on vacant seats. He said several councilors-elect youth had left the system and got government jobs or went abroad.

A former district councilor and activist of the PTI Muhammad Ibrahim said that LG representatives from a village councilor to district councilor and even nazim had no power that was why people had no interest in local bodies’ polls.

A youth councilor candidate from Khungi village council and activist of the ANP Ulfat Hayat said he himself refused to cast vote in Tuesday re-polling as a protest against the ACP for holding election on this seat for the third time. He said none of the voters cast vote. Political activists were of the view the government should empower LG representatives if it really wanted people to trust its LG system.