KARACHI: As the country heads towards general elections expec­ted to be held in February next year, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali has said it is difficult to carry out political activities in parts of KP and Balochistan due to the security situation.

“There is no doubt that the situation in some areas such as Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat and Bannu is not good,” Gover­nor Ali replied when asked if the current security situation was unfavourable for political parties to hold rallies in the province. A similar situation persisted in Balo­chistan as well, he added.

In an interview with Nadir Guramani on DawnNews, he said general elections in the aforementioned areas could be held but it was difficult to carry out political activities there. “The government and state institutions will make efforts because elections should be peaceful,” he said, stressing that it was the government’s duty to take the voter to the ballot box safely.

Both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent past, especially after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan end­ed its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies data, the country experienced a 34 per cent increase in anti-state violence last month, with KP being the most affected province, with 51 attacks causing 54 fatalities and 81 injuries. Also, Balochistan recorded nine attacks which claimed 18 lives.

Strategy

When asked if he had shared the situation with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the governor said the provincial government was responsible for doing so. “Some incidents have taken place recently […] every day our jawans are being martyred, but thankfully a big incident has not taken place yet.

“The provincial government and institutions are responsible for sitting together and preparing a strategy for the way forward,” the KP governor said,

adding that Pakistan should swiftly move towards polls while keeping the political and economic situation in view.

Talking about PTI’s claims regarding the lack of a level playing field, the governor said party’s “objections were not valid” and pointed out that it had recently held a number of rallies in KP. “It is not good for anyone to make the election process suspicious,” he asserted.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2023