PESHAWAR, Pakistan: The assertion of peaceful erstwhile FATA has now well been vindicated with the conduct of first-ever election in the tribal regions for 16 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Seats on Saturday, a huge development for war-stricken people mainly ensured by Pakistan army’s unflinching commitment to purge the region of militancy.
قبائلی اضلاع میں آج تاریخ رقم کردی ہے ۔ ترقی و خوشحالی کے سفر کا آغاز ہوچکا ہے ۔ عوام جمہوری عمل میں بھر پور شرکت کریں ۔ جمہوریت روشن مستقبل کی ضمانت ہے۔ #PakistanZindabad #Vote4Bat
— Mahmood Khan (@IMMahmoodKhan) July 20, 2019
About 2.8 million voters in erstwhile FATA (Federally Administrated Tribal Areas) are using their right of franchise to elect their representatives from among 284 Candidates. Of them, 83 Candidates are contesting the election from the platform of different Political Parties while 101 are Independents.
Among the Contesting Candidates vying for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 16 belonged to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), 15 to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), 14 to Awami National Party (ANP), 13 each to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), five to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and three are from Qaumi Watan Party (QWP).
Election is underway in following tribal districts;
PK-100 Bajaur-I
PK-101 Bajaur-II
PK-102 Bajaur-III
PK-103 Mohmand-I
PK-104 Mohmand-II
PK-105 Khyber-I
PK-106 Khyber-II
PK-107 Khyber-III
PK-108 Kurram-I
PK-109 Kurram-II
PK-110 Orakzai
PK-111 North Waziristan-I
PK-112 North Waziristan-II
PK-113 South Waziristan-I
PK-114 South Waziristan-II
PK-115 Ex-Frontier Regions
In order to facilitate the voters to cast their votes, 1895 Polling Stations have been established across the tribal region. Of them, 554 Polling Stations have been declared highly sensitive whereas 461 have been declared sensitive.
Besides the deployment of Pakistan army personnel in highly sensitive and sensitive Polling Stations to ensure holding of the election in a peaceful and transparent manner, CCTV Cameras have also been installed.
As per the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the polling which began at 8:00 am will continue till 5:00 pm without any interval.
