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ISLAMABAD: With the unofficial results start pouring in, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seems to be taking the lead with the party’s candidates winning at six wards in Islamabad’s Union Council-40, DawnNews reported on Monday.
As it was being anticipated, a large number of independent candidates also won — with the PML-N trailing behind the PTI. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), however, was nowhere in the competition.
Apart from sweeping the polls in UC-40, PTI secured chairman seats from UC-50, UC-36 and UC 27 while in UC-30, PTI won all seats except that of chairman.
PML-N has secured chairman seats in UC-43, UC-41, UC-33 and UC-32 so far, according to the unofficial and unconfirmed results.
Voting concluded peacefully in the federal capital on Monday amid low voter turnout and high security as residents of the federal capital went to the polls to elect local representatives for the first time under the newly-minted Islamabad Local Government Act, 2015.
The last local body polls in lslamabad were held under military rule in 1979 on a non-party basis and was limited to rural areas only.
Islamabad, which now has a population of around 2 million, has been divided into 50 Union Councils for the polls.
As many as 676,795 registered voters will be electing local councillors and UC chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, who will go on to sit in the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC), Dawn Newspaper reported.
According to the ECP, 2,407 candidates are taking parts in these elections. There are 972 independents, 506 of PML-N, 479 of PTI, 164 of Jamaat-i-Islami and 81 of the PPP.
The ECP had set up a control room to register voter complains. The control room can be contacted at 051-9210816, 9210817, and 9210818.
All government departments, including federal ministries in Islamabad Capital Territory, shut at 2:00pm this afternoon to enable government employees to cast their votes.
The start of voting at certain polling stations was delayed as polling materials reached the stations late, DawnNews had reported.
Other reasons reported for the delay in polling are a lack of training provided on how to vote, misprinting of candidate's symbols on ballot papers and provision of dry stamp pads.
