ISLAMABAD: There has long been a perception that the residents of the federal capital are so aloof that they don’t even know who their next-door neighbours are.

Ahead of the Islamabad local government elections, this led many to believe – incorrectly – that major political parties’ candidates would get most of the votes because no one would vote for unknown independents.

But after nearly a dozen independent candidates for chairman romped to victory on Monday, it would appear that this view is outdated.

Chaudhry Naeem breaks political parties’ monopoly in urban Islamabad

One of those independents is Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem Ali, who managed to beat out former Senator Zafar Ali Shah – the man tipped to be PML-N’s mayoral candidate – in UC-30 (Sector G-7). This upset has surprised many observers, and also broken the political parties’ monopoly in urban Islamabad.

A number of voters Dawn spoke to claimed that Mr Naeem won the elections because he had deep roots in the locality.

Syed Masood Shah, an MPhil student who lives in G-7 said that Mr Naeem was born in the A-type quarters and was the son of a non-gazetted government officer.

“Growing up, he played in the streets, studied at the local boys school and regularly participated in all events held in the area, so most of the people in the neighbourhood know him.

“Several people who otherwise owe their allegiances to PTI, PPP, PML-N, ANP and even ASWJ and the Christian community, voted in his favour because of their personal relationship with Naeem,” he said.

Mohammad Ayub, a local trader, said, “All of Naeem’s friends; his school and college mates, and even those who would gossip with him over tea late at night, all campaigned for him with such devotion as if they were campaigning for their own candidature.”

“The PML-N had initially offered Naeem a ticket and we celebrated the news by distributing sweetmeats. But at the last moment, the ticket was awarded to former senator Zafar Ali Shah, so we convinced Naeem to contest the election independently,” he said.

“I have been living in the sector for 40 years so I decided to poll in favour of the candidate who lives near me and can be accessed easily. I have never seen Mr Shah in the area and even the PTI’s candidate has never bothered to contact people,” he said.

Another trader from Al-Habib Market, Chaudhry Nadeem, said that the election result should teach political parties to hand out tickets to locals on merit.

“Although Mr Shah lived in a private house in G-7/4, we have never seen him in the area. We demand that Mr Naeem be considered for the post of mayor or, at the very least, deputy mayor,” he said.

But Mr Naeem credited his defeat to the infighting within PTI and PML-N, saying that these parties did not award tickets on merit.

“In the past, Mr Shah has served as a local bodies representative and a parliamentarian, but never bothered to meet the people. Whenever someone went to his house to air their grievances, he would say that the people had voted for the PML-N, not for him,” he said.

“He even affixed a sign, saying ‘Beware of Dogs’ outside his residence, so people avoided going there,” he said.

When asked about his plans, Mr Naeem said that both PML-N and PTI had asked him to join, but said he would only decide after consulting with the residents of the area.

A leader scorned?

Syed Zafar Ali Shah, however, blamed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for his defeat.

In a written statement, he claimed that on election day, the polling station management, police and ECP staff deliberately created hurdles for him and his panel members.

“When I asked for a ballot paper to cast my vote, it was allegedly claimed that my CNIC was not original. My polling agents were not conveyed the result but the electronic media had already started displaying the result of the UC,” he said.

“There are a number of concerns [that] I will share with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and after that I will share my concerns with the media and the people of the UC,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2015