Daily Times

In a first, a female candidate from Jamrud will contest the provincial assembly election scheduled for July 20, 2019.

In PK-106, as many as 19 candidates are competing for the provincial assembly seat, including Awami National Party (ANP) ticket holder Naheed Bibi, who will be contesting the election on a general seat.

After abolishing of the century-old black law, Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR), and merging of tribal region into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), preparations have been finalised to conduct elections on 16 seats of the provincial assembly of KP.

Khyber district has three provincial assembly seats – PK-105, PK-106 and PK-107 – and as many as 59 candidates have filed their nomination papers.

Naheed, who has done her master’s in philosophy from the University of Peshawar, said that the ANP was a progressive party and never indulged in gender discrimination, and it was the reason that she was granted ticket to raise the voice for the voiceless, especially the women.

“Competing elections in a male-dominated society, especially in tribal set-up where a woman is not permitted to take part in active politics, is a tough job, but I have accepted the challenge and will compete the election with the support of my relatives, party worker and provincial leadership,” she remarked.

Repaying to a query, Naheed said that the government had been using delaying tactics to avoid elections because the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had lost its credibility through its zero performance in the merged districts.

Response of the voters, especially the progressive men, has been encouraging, as they have extended unconditional support to her during the door to door campaign, she said. She said that if elected, she would work for the welfare of the women who were the neglected portion of the tribal society.