Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has bagged the highest number of district nazim seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local government elections.

According to the unconfirmed and unofficial election results received until the filing of this report, the party had secured 22 district nazim seats. The final phase of the local government elections in the province was completed on Sunday after polls for nazim and naib nazim in 23 districts. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was leading in nine districts, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, and DI Khan. In the provincial capital, Peshawar, PTI’s Arbab Asim was elected district nazim, unopposed.

He took oath earlier in the day. The party also won the seat for nazim in three of the city’s four towns. In Nowshera, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s brother, Liaquat Khattak, was elected nazim, with the PTI also bagging the naib nazim’s slot. In Charsadda, PTI’s Fahad Khan was elected district nazim and Jamaat-e-Islami’s Masood Shah his deputy. According to unofficial results, Jamaat-e-Islami, which is the ruling PTI’s coalition partner in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, won in Chitral, Buner, Upper and Lower Dir, while the PML-N succeeded in Shangla, Mansehra and Swat.

Pakistan People’s Party won seats in Malakand and Karak, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl succeeded in Kohat and Lakki Marwat. The tripartite alliance of Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl and Pakistan People’s Party boycotted the elections in the district and three towns of Peshawar, but did not boycott them in Town-4 of Peshawar and some other districts where the alliance had sufficient number of councillors to form governments. Jamaat Islami (JI) bagged seats of 4 Nazims. Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) got 3, Jamiat Ulema Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) got 2 each. Awami National Party (ANP) was able to succeed in Swabi only.

PTI has won in 10 districts in elections for nazim and naib nazim; JI in four; PML-N in three; PPP, ANP and JUI-F in two each. Much like the polling process itself, the ceremonies to swear in the local government representatives in some parts of the province were mismanaged and chaotic. Scuffles broke out in Shangla, while Swat’s deputy commissioner failed to turn up to administer the oaths.