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| September 24, 2005 | Saturday | Sha'aban 19, 1426 |
Money main force in nazim polls
PESHAWAR, Sept 23: The race for the offices of the district and tehsil nazims has apparently become a contest between members of the upper class as all ‘non-political’ electoral groups backed by mainstream political and religious parties have fielded candidates with enormous wealth.
Majority of candidates fielded for the slots of district nazim in the 24 districts of the province by electoral groups backed by mainstream political parties including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), PPP (Sherpao), Pakistan Muslim League (PML), PML (Nawaz), Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) and Awami National Party (ANP) represent the landed gentry, industrialist and business class.
A look at the main contenders for the office of district nazim in all the 24 districts of the province suggests that in over 90 per cent cases political parties have preferred to field candidates with enormous wealth and those with ability to mobilize funds to take good care of a situation in which use of money to buy support of the voting councillors becomes necessary.
Reports from some of the districts suggest that candidates are offering Rs50,000 per vote to the male and female councillors. Councillors entering into agreement in such arrangements are required to hand over their identity cards to the candidates.
Such incidents have so far been reported from Peshawar, Charsadda and Tank districts.
Ms Shabeena Ayaz, a representative of Aurat Foundation looking into women participation in local body elections, said that the concept of good governance and self-rule by masses through new local government system could not be fulfilled unless manipulative practices and use of money in the polling process remained unchecked.
“If people continue to exercise their right to vote by taking money from the rich, how can one expect to see real democracy in the country,” said Ms Ayaz.
Senior leaders of some parties, when contacted, said on request of anonymity that political workers with modest financial base could not think of contesting the polls because, even, the election of district nazim had become a matter of money.
“It requires a lot of money to contest for the office of district nazim and in one example a candidate promised to invest Rs20 to Rs30 million for the election campaign following which he was given ticket by the party leadership,” said a local leader of ANP.
Political observers said that the decision to field rich candidates reflected that political parties did not have confidence in their councilors.
Councilors are being suspected even by their own political parties as a result party workers with modest means have not been fielded as candidates.
“I do not have the amount of money one should have at his disposal to run for the post of district nazim, therefore, I did not apply for the party ticket,” said Haji Mohammed Adeel, senior leader of ANP.
Commenting on the situation, Dr Altafullah Khan, assistant professor at the journalism department, university of Peshawar, said that unless the prevalent power structure was changed improvement could not be guaranteed and objectives of the new system would be difficult to achieve.
In Peshawar Haji Ghulam Ali of JUI(F), who is still facing charges of having assets disproportionate to his income, has posed a tough challenge to ANP’s Haroon Bashir Bilour, one of the B = ? most affluent families in the NWFP.
In Haripur district, Yousuf Ayub Khan, grandson of the country first martialaw administrator field marshal Ayub Khan, is facing a challenge at the hands of former district nazim Raja Aamir Zaman, son of Raja Sikandar Zaman, former chief minister of the NWFP, a leading landlord of the Haripur district.
Mr Ayub has the support of his uncle Gohar Ayub Khan. Whereas, Mr Zaman is being supported by some local members of the provincial assembly belonging to PML and a section of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
Similarly, in Dera Ismail Khan district, opposition leader in the National Assembly Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman’s brother Ubed-ur- Rehman, having administrative machinery at his disposal and with huge financial clout, is vying against wealth Sanaullah Miankhel of PML and former senator Mukhtiar fielded by a strong independent group of the area.
Situation in Lukki Marwat, Hangu, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Chitral, Kohat Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Kohistan, Swat, Tank and other districts of the province is also the same as the race for the office of district nazim has apparently turned into a contest between big shots belonging to these areas. Information gathered from the districts revealed that people belonging to the wealthy class would hold the top slots in all the 24 districts of the province.
In Bannu, the home district of the NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, his cousin Aazim Durrani, son of former MPA Saeed Ullah Khan, who happened to be the political mentor of Mr Akram Durrani, is faced with little resistance from Senator Prof Mohammed Ibrahim, JI’s central naib amir for the NWFP.
Mr Ibrahim represents a very few from among the contesting candidates who are of modest background but enjoy strong logistical and financial support either of their parties or those who have pushed them into the race.
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