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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

KPK government advises ECP to postpone elections in merged tribal districts

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, on Sunday, wrote a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and suggested to delay the local elections in the merged tribal districts by 20 days.

News Analysis |

In the letter written by the provincial government to the election commission secretary, it said; “Election is the breathing life for the democratic nations and the people of newly merged districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are availing this opportunity for the first time in the constitutional history of Pakistan. The current unwarranted situation and threats of serious nature from across the border and some developments within newly merged districts may sabotage the whole process of holding of forthcoming elections.”

The TLP were operating through tribal areas and from its safe havens in Afghanistan, but were mainly targeting urban centers in Pakistan.

It further states, “it is suggested that the subject elections may be postponed due to the following reasons for twenty (20) days which is within the constitutional limit of 25th of July, 2019 for the holding the subject elections:

I. Threats of terrorist activities from across the border/neighboring Afghanistan with newly merged districts in the wake of elections.

II. Threats to political leadership of NMDx.

III. Post-merger issue of ex-FATA into the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

IV. Fresh development in North Waziristan district.

V. Change of command of Levies and Khassadars from DCs to DPOs.

VI. Levies and Khassadars have not yet trained to perform security duties in the absence of territorial and tribal responsibility.”

Law and order situations deteriorated in Waziristan after a charged mob led by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Mohsin Dawar, attacked an army check post and killed one soldier. Two days ago, three officers and one soldier embraced martyrdom in a blast. The martyred officers have been identified as Lt Col Raashid Karim Baig, who was a resident of Hunza’s Karimabad, Major Moeez Maqsood Baig, who belonged to Karachi, Captain Arifullah, a resident of Lakki Marwat, and Lance Havaldar Zaheer, who hails from Chakwal.

Read more: Federal Govt. distributes more than Rs18 billion across tribal districts

According to the ISPR, 10 security forces personnel have been martyred, while 35 have been injured in the area last one month. Mohsin Dawar has reportedly demanded the Pakistan army to leave Waziristan. Dawar, who went into hiding, gave the interview to a local journalist, Gohar Wazir, from an undisclosed location.

Moreover, back in 2014, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which also killed many innocent civilians and soldiers, demanded the same objectives.

https://twitter.com/MysticIntel/status/1133867387047096320

The soldiers, who were kept hostage by TLP, were tortured and beheaded. After a year of continuous struggle and sacrifices by the armed forces, Pakistan was able to restore peace across the country. The TLP were operating through tribal areas and from its safe havens in Afghanistan but were mainly targeting urban centers in Pakistan.

Read more: 100 Billion for Tribal areas: PM Khan

For many analysts, as anti-Pakistan agencies are working and misusing the PTM against Pakistan, the ECP must listen to the reservations of the KPK government. Moreover, it is also believed that the security agencies ensure peace in the region before elections are held so that everyone could participate in the political process.