ECP postpones elections in tribal districts

PESHAWAR (92 News) – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday postponed elections in the tribal districts till July 20. Election Commission accepted the request of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and postponed the election for 18 days. According to the ECP, the election commission postponed the elections on the 16 seats of the KP Assembly in tribal districts till July 20 after a government by the provincial government. It is pertinent to mention here that the polling was scheduled to be held on 16 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in tribal districts on July 2. ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob said that the elections were postponed in the tribal districts after the briefing of security forces. He also said that the elections would be held in the same time for all the constituencies. The letter states the current unwarranted situation and threats of serious nature from across the border and some development within the newly merged districts may sabotage the whole process of holding of forthcoming polls. “It is suggested that the subject election may be postponed due to the following reasons for 20 days which is within the constitutional limit of 25 July, 2019 for holding the subject elections.” In his letter, the KP government has given six reasons to postpone the elections which are mentioned below:

1. Threats of terrorist activities from across the border/neighbouring Afghanistan within the newly merged districts (NMDs) in the wake of election
2. Threat to political leadership of NMDs
3. Post-merger issues of erstwhile Fata
4. Fresh developments in North Waziristan district
5. Change of command of Levies and Khassadars from DCs to DPOs
6. Levies and Khassadars have not yet been trained to perform security duties in the absence of territorial and tribal responsibility

“I am therefore directed to request you to postpone the provincial elections in NMDs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for twenty days to deal with the above mentioned reasons and making foolproof security and administrative arrangements for smooth, efficient and safe conduct of elections, please,” reads the letter written by an official of the Home and Tribal Affairs department. It is noteworthy that a total of 297 people have already filed nomination papers for the first-ever elections for 16 general seats in erstwhile Fata. The electoral body had last month issued a final list of 297 candidates in the run for the provincial assembly seats.