QUETTA, Aug 20: Pro-development panels have succeeded in 12 out of 14 districts of Balochistan in the local body elections held on Thursday, with the victory in Gwadar indicating people’s support to the mega deep-sea port project there.

Media Adviser to Chief Minister Raziq Bugti said this while talking to newsmen at the Quetta Press Club on Saturday.

He asserted that pro-progress forces “have won 204 union councils out of the total 274”, an encouraging sign in the existing political scenario of the province.

Mr Bugti said that all political parties, regardless of whether that believed in the parliamentary system or not, had taken part in the polls to get their panels elected.

“The contest was really between pro-development elements and anti-progress forces,” he remarked, adding that the electorates had given verdict in favour of forces wanting to put Balochistan on the path of progress.

He clarified that PML, its coalition partners and other supporters had scored gains in the election. He conceded that there were differences within the coalition government panels but emphasized that in broader context groups allied to the government had won.

The peaceful conduct of elections despite tribal rivalries was a big achievement of the provincial government, he said.

Although the media painted a dismal picture of the province, the ground realities belied the one-sided analyses, he added.