SWABI: Awami National Party’s acting central president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said on Sunday if independent candidates emerged victorious in the Feb 8 elections they would promptly switch loyalties, and a feeble government would be formed in the province as a result.

Addressing a workers’ convention in Maneri village here, he asked people to avoid voting for the independent candidates because if they succeeded they would be at the mercy of others and would never work for their welfare.

He said former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had claimed to be fighting for the rights of Pakhtuns, but when he was the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, he didn’t talk about such rights when a wave of terrorism swept across the province.

Mr Hoti declared that Mr Qaiser won’t stand with PTI and would change his party after the elections. He predicted that Mr Qaiser would most likely join PTI-P of Pervez Khattak.

The ANP leader said keeping in view the challenges Pakistan was facing it was important for the voters to vote for the followers of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan so they could fight for their rights.

ANP leader predicts Qaiser likely join PTI-P

Mr Hoti, who also remained KP chief minister, said it seemed there was no way that former prime minister Imran Khan would be set free as he had been sentenced in three cases.

He said when Imran Khan was the premier he was all-praise for the establishment, but when he was ousted from power he started targeting the institutions.

Mr Hoti is expected to address another gathering here on Monday (today) before the elections.

POLLING STATIONS: A total 252 polling stations in Swabi have been deemed most sensitive, sources in the district office of the Election Commission of Pakistan and police told Dawn on Sunday.

They said a total of 763 polling stations had been set up for the two national and five provincial assembly constituencies in the district.

The sources said a majority of the most sensitive polling stations were located in Razaar tehsil, where a young engineer was killed on the Election Day in 2018 when ANP and PTI activists clashed at a polling station.

The sources said 335 polling stations had been declared as sensitive with a majority also in Razaar tehsil.

The sources said the remaining 176 polling stations had been deemed as normal.

Meanwhile, the police officials held a meeting with the dispute resolution council members and candidates of various political parties, asking them to help the law enforcement agencies ensure hassle-free polling.

The police also held a flag march aiming to make the Feb 8 elections a peaceful exercise.

To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2024