KHYBER: Though general elections are just two months away, political parties and candidates have yet not begun electioneering here mostly due to the uncertain political situation in the country, insist analysts.

They also attributed a lack of interest on part of candidates in starting their campaigns for the Feb 8 general elections to the ‘dormant’ nature of most mainstream political parties in the newly merged districts (NMDs).

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Also, there are isolated voices of dissent about the fresh delimitation of a local provincial assembly constituency.

Shams Mohmand, a senior journalist and a seasoned political analyst, believes that alongside political uncertainty and a deteriorating law and order situation, the mainstream political parties and their top leaders have yet not planned their respective election campaigns in NMDs, while most of them haven’t named poll candidates.

Analysts insist most mainstream parties ‘dormant’ in merged districts

He told Dawn that in the last five and six years, both parliament and the democratic process lost respect in the eyes of people, while most candidates in the region preferred to contest elections as independents instead of aligning themselves with political parties.

“Electioneering has become a very costly affair throughout the country with tribal districts being no exception, so most candidates start their respective campaigns only a month before the scheduled date for general elections to avoid excess spending,” he said.

Sudhir Ahmad Afridi, another analyst, told Dawn that despite the announcement of election date, a “wait and see game” was still on among most candidates as they were weighing their options for ‘adjustment’ with like-minded political parties, groups or independents.

“Khyber has now become a large constituency for the National Assembly with three seats for the provincial assembly, so most candidates are now more focused on striking deals with local influential groups and tribal elders in order to secure the maximum support ahead of a formal launch of their election campaign,” he said.

Mr Afridi, however, said people were mostly disappointed with the performance of their previous representatives as most of their demands were not met, while the potential candidates were in a quandary to get support of those disgruntled elements.

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However, Al-Haj Shahji Gul, a former MNA from Khyber and a candidate for the lone Khyber NA constituency in Feb 8 general elections, dispelled any impression of the lack of his preparedness for elections and insisted that his team was busy holding corner meetings and canvassing for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which he recently joined.

He along with his son, Bilawal, an MPA, and brother Taj Mohammad, a former senator, had announced the joining of the Balochistan Awami Party after the 2018 elections.

Mr Gul, however, agreed to the notion that most remaining mainstream political parties had yet to award tickets to their candidates and start election campaigns.

Shah Faisal Afridi, a central leader of Jamaat-i-Islami and at least its three times candidate for the National Assembly seat from Bara constituency of Khyber, said most people weren’t certain if general elections would take place, so there was an indecision on part of candidates and parties about election campaigns.

He said the present caretaker setup in the centre was in no mood to hold general elections on the announced date, as it was acting in the name only, while the country’s affairs were controlled from ‘somewhere else’ that had little interest in the continuity of the democratic process.

Meanwhile, political activists and some tribal elders in Shalobar and Bar Qamberkhel areas of Bara tehsil expressed reservations about the ‘shifting’ of at least 22 village councils (VCs) to the provincial assembly constituency of PK-70.

They argued that the relocation of VCs to PK-70, which was predominantly a Jamrud tehsil constituency, would deprive a sizable number of voters from their true representative in the provincial assembly.

According to the new delimitation of provincial constituencies, the Election Commission of Pakistan has included seven out of the total 10 VCs in PK-70 Jamrud-II, while all 13 VCs from Bar Qambarkhel area were also shifted to the same constituency.

Local observers believe that with the new delimitation of the PK-70, nearly 98,000 of legitimate Bara voters had been shifted to that provincial assembly constituency, which was a political loss for the people of Bara.

The mainstream political parties and their candidates have yet not raised their voice on the issue, while Bara residents consider that silence a major weakness of those parties.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2023