PESHAWAR: With arrangements finalised for the April 25 elections in cantonment areas in the province, 43 candidates are in the running in five wards of Peshawar Cantonment Board.

Candidates and their supporters remained engaged in hectic electioneering on Thursday as they visited localities in their respective wards and were also seen in door-to-door campaign to muster support of voters.

Polling will take place from 8am to 5pm without interruption.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has already issued notification through which the presiding officers of polling stations have been assigned powers of magistrate first class from April 24 to April 26. They are empowered to try summarily a person for an election related offence.

In accordance with an order of the Lahore High Court, the elections are held on party basis. Major political parties have fielded their candidates. These parties include Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Awami National Party, Pakistan People’s Party and Jamaat-i-Islami.

Polls being held on party basis in line with court orders

In Peshawar, Cantonment Executive Officer M Saleem Wattoo has been appointed the returning officer.

Candidates and their supporters have displayed and affixed banners and posters at prominent places to catch the attention of voters.

As these polls in cantonments are to be held after 15 years, people are taking keen interest in them.

Candidates have also set up their election offices.

There are 11 candidates contesting in Ward No 1 and they include Faheem Haider (PPP), Faheem Shah (PML-N), Imran Khan (PTI), Syed Tariq Ali Shah (ANP), Maj (r) Arshad Mahmood, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Waris, Naveed Shehzad, Sudher Azam, Syed Arif Ali Shah and Tasdique Ahmad Khan.

Six candidates are trying their luck in Ward No 2 and they’re Mohammad Younas (ANP), Sher Afzal Khan (PTI), Qamar Zaman (PML-N), Munawar Zaman, Ghulam Habib and Irshad Khan.

Similarly, nine candidates are vying for the seat of councilor from ward No 3. These candidates are Jawad Ahmad (PTI), Mian Mohammad Akhter (PML-N), Mohammad Aqeel (ANP), Shamsur Rehman (All Pakistan Muslim League), Sohail Asghar (JI), Yadullah Khan Bangash (PPP), Ms Rukhsana, Mohammad Adeel and Mohammad Usman.

Eight candidates contesting in Ward No 4 are Abdul Razzaq (ANP), Ghulam Hussain (PTI), Waqar Ahmad (PML-N), Atif Ejaz Hussain, Dawood Khalil, Imran Khan Jadoon, Shahzad Rafiq and Waris Khan. Furthermore, nine candidates are contesting in ward No 5.

The candidates are Atif Ali Khan (JI), Khalid Syed (PTI), Naeem Baksh (PPP), Obaid Hussain (ANP), Khan Bahadur, Mohammad Pervez, Qazi Mohammad Faheem, Ms Rashida Kausar and Alawodin.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, elections will take place in 10 cantonments namely Peshawar, Nowshera, Risalpur, Cherat, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Abbottabad and Havelian.

Also, the Election Commission of Pakistan has issued a code of conduct for election candidates.

According to it, candidates will not deliver speeches aimed at fanning hatred on ethnic, religious, gender or regional basis, while they can’t arrange transport for voters except close family members.

The candidates can incur election expenses up to Rs200,000.

Also, the ECP stopped print and electronic media from printing, telecasting or broadcasting anything that adversely affects the public opinion against a particular political party or a candidate.

Meanwhile, all is set for the elections of Abbottabad, Havelian and Kalabagh cantonment boards slated to take place on April 25.

Cantonment Executive Officer Abbottabad Malik Omer Farooq, who is acting as the returning officer for the elections, told reporters here that 49,000 voters would take place in the elections to be held on party basis.

A total of 39 candidates are contesting elections of the nine wards of three cantonment boards in the district.

One candidate, Bashir Khan, has been elected unopposed. He has been elected from Ward No 2 of the Kalabagh Cantonment Board.

Malik Omer Farooq said of the total 45 polling stations including 21 for men, 20 for women and four joint, 13 were declared sensitive while three polling stations were declared ‘very sensitive.’

He said the army soldiers would be deployed in all polling stations beside availability of police contingent at outside polling stations.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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