F.P. Report
KHAR: Women votes are key for success in Bajaur District in General Election as a total of 51 candidates are in the run for four provincial assembly seats – PK-19 Bajaur-I, PK-20 Bajaur-II, PK-21 Bajaur-III and PK-22 Bajaur-IV, however, after the postponement of the election on NA-8 and PK-22, the candidature now contesting election only on three provincial constituencies.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has postponed elections in Bajaur’s NA-8 and PK-22 after a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed independent candidate Rehan Zeb Khan was killed in the Siddiqabad area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Bajaur a week earlier. The notification to postpone the polls on the National Assembly’s NA-8 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s PK-22 has been issued by the ECP.
Rehan Zeb Khan was shot dead during his election campaign in the area. Some unidentified assailants opened fire on his vehicle, leaving him dead on the spot. Four other people were also injured in the attack.
There are seven candidates to run for PK-19 Bajaur-I, 11 for PK-20 Bajaur-II, 18 for PK-21 Bajaur-III and 15 for PK-22 Bajaur-IV constituencies. Malik Hikmatullah Mamond of ANP, Ikram Khan of PMLN, Malik Ayaz of JI, Said Rahim Shah Sabawoon of Mazloom Ulasi Tehreek while independent candidates Dr Hameedur Rahman, Malik Khalid Khan and Rahimdad Khan are contesting elections on PK-19 Bajaur-I.
On PK-20 Bajaur-II constituency, there are a total of 11 candidates in the election arena – Maulana Waheed Gul of JI, Shahabuddin Khan of PMLN, Maulana Abdur Rashid of JUIF, Akhunzada Chattan of PPP, Gul Afzal Khan of ANP, Burhanuddin of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Shahid Azam of Tehreek-e-Darveshan Pakistan, Sher Ahmad of JUI-S while former minister Anwarzeb Khan, Muambar Khan and Muhammad Saeed Khan are contesting elections in independent capacity.
Similarly, there are more independent candidates, including a woman, out of the total 18 to contest elections on PK-21 Bajaur-III. The candidates comprising Rashid Khan of ANP, Shakil Khan of PPP, Haji Sardar Khan of JI, Muhammad Zahoor Khan of PMLN, Muhammad Tariq of JUIF, Muhammad Asghar Khan Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Zair Muhammad of MUT. While the lone woman candidate Sultanat Bibi, Malik Umar Wahid, Engr Ajmal Khan, Badshah Rawan, Jumma Said, Hazoor Khan, Samiullah, Shakirullah and Shah Salim are contesting polls as independents in this constituency.
Also, there are a total of 14 candidates to test their luck in the forthcoming elections in PK-20 Bajaur-IV constituency. Abdullah advocate of PPP, Shah Naseer Khan of ANP, Siraj Khan of JI, Imran Mahir of JUIF, Lalishah Pakhtunyar of MUT, Nawabzada Jalauddin Khan of PTIP, while Aurangzeb Iqilabi, Ijaz Khan, Hayat Khan, Guldad Khan, Gul Munir, Laiqzada, Muambar Khan and Noor Shah are contesting elections in independent capacity.
Likewise, on other provincial assembly constituencies, leading political parties and the election candidates termed the success in the election with women voters are the key, specially Bajaur District that is why election candidates are focusing more on women voters.
The political parties and the contesting independent candidates are making efforts to ensure maximum participation of women voters in the Feb 8 polls as ECP has declared 10 per cent women votes in a constituency must for validity of the polling process. Women constitute more than 48 per cent of the total population of Bajaur tribal district. Local leaders of all political and religious parties as well as independent candidates are giving special attention to active participation of women in the upcoming elections during their campaign.
Leaders of political parties and poll aspirants, who were earlier focusing only on male voters in their ongoing election campaign, have now started giving importance to women voters after realizing that 10 per cent women votes are mandatory in a constituency for the elections to be declared valid as per ECP rules.
Surprisingly, the contesting candidates of various political parties and independent candidates did not bother to give any attention but after the announcement of the Election Commissioner of the women pool percentage, all of them gave full concentration to women voters. Now with the announcement of the mandatory of women voters with a set percentage fixed by the Election Commission, all the candidates have started giving importance to women voters.
Ismail Khan and Irfan Bajauri when asked to comment, said that local leaders of all parties were making efforts to bring maximum women to the polling stations on the polling day so that to ensure validity of the election result. They said that their parties also formed a mobilization team to attract women voters and ensure their active participation in the election process. Vice President of the PML-N Shahabuddin Khan, who is contesting elections for PK-20, has also formed several teams of elders and youth to convince locals to allow their women to cast their votes on the polling day.
Similarly, local leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami are also struggling to convince their supporters to encourage their women to cast votes in the district on the polling day. A senior worker of JI told APP that his party formed several teams of female workers to inform women about the importance of their votes. A party worker said that political and religious parties and poll candidates were yet to say anything against casting of votes by women in their ongoing campaign and public meetings. It will help local women to use their right to vote in the upcoming elections, Irfan Bajauri added.
There are four constituencies of the National Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Bajaur district. In the past, this constituency was called National Assembly Constituency NA 43 of Bajaur, while in 2018, it was renamed NA 40, but it was merged with the tribal districts. After this, due to new delimitation, the National Assembly constituency of Bajaur has been named as NA-8.
One constituency has now been reduced from Bajaur because before the merger, there used to be two National Assembly constituencies in Bajaur. In the 2002 general elections, Maulana Muhammad Sadiq of Muttahida Majlis Amal won from this constituency, while later Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Former Governor Engineer Shaukatullah won the 2008 general election, his father Haji Bismillah Khan in 2013 while PTI’s Gul Dad Khan won from the same constituency in 2018.
Due to the former tribal areas, the influence of political parties is relatively less in this constituency, although after the merger, various parties are trying to increase their vote bank. On January 3, Qari Khairullah, the provincial assembly candidate of Jamiat Ulema Islam-F, was targeted, but he remained safe. Due to the poor law and order situation in Bajaur, there is fear among the candidates and the people. According to a report, instead of political meetings and rallies, corner meetings are being held in private Hujra’s.
Because due to the security situation, ordinary tribal people shy away from going to political programs, like in the past, the votes of personalities are high in Bajaur, but some of the contending candidates definitely have the support of political parties. In Bajaur, former Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Engineer Shaukatullah, Awami National Party’s Maulana Khan Zeib, Jamaat-e-Islami’s former assembly member Haroon Rasheed and some other independent candidates are present in the election contest in Bajaur.
It is worth mentioning here that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has 145 elected members, 115 regular seats, 26 seats reserved for women and 04 seats for Non-Muslims. The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is elected by the Chief Minister of the Province who forms a Cabinet of Ministers to oversee various Departments.
The Chief Minister is also the Chief Executive of the Province.
The Federal Government appoints a Governor as head of the Provincial Government. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into 24 districts. Each district has a Zilla Nazim assisted by a District Coordination Officer. In a District the functions are devolved further to the Tehsil, Town and Union Council Governments. Each District has an elected Zilla Council, elected Tehsil, Town and Union Councils who look after various activities at their respective levels.
At district level a District Police Officer looks after matters of Law and Order and he/she reports to the Zilla Nazim. Each district has a Public Safety Commission which addresses public complaints against the Police. There is a Provincial Police Officer who is in charge of the Police system at the provincial level.
To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates. Similarly, for the General Election 2024, polling materials are being shifted to polling stations and the elections are being held in three provincial constituencies in the district apart from NA-8 and PK-22 postponement.
The total number of male and female voters in three provincial constituencies is 4,88,873 and the total number of male voters is 2, 66, 169. The total number of women voters is 2, 22, 644. A total of 275 polling stations have been set up for the elections with 257 joint polling stations for men and women have been established. The Election Commission has declared 63 polling stations as the most sensitive, 109 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 65 as normal with 2526 policemen deployed for security. A ban has been imposed on the display of all types of weapons in the district under Section 144. (APP)
