ISLAMABAD: By-elections will be held in four union councils on Nov 2, serving as a sort of test case for the PTI after a year in government.

The PTI won three out of the four union councils – I-8, F-10/F-11 and Tumair – in the capital’s first even local government elections in November 2015. The four union council, Badhana Kalan, was won by a candidate from the PML-N.

The PML-N won 21 of the capital’s 50 union councils in 2015, while the PTI won 17. Another 11 independent union council chairmen also joined the PML-N, giving the party easy victories in the election ofthe city’s mayor and deputy mayors.

Elections could serve as a test case for PTI after a year in govt

Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz and all three deputy mayors are all from the PML-N.

However, the PML-N lost all three of Islamabad’s National Assembly seats in the general election last year, with Raja Khurram Nawaz, Imran Khan and Asad Umar winning NA 52, 53 and 54, respectively.

Before he became an MNA, Mr Nawaz was elected chairman of union council eight, Tumair, and a by-election will now be held for the seat he vacated. When Mr Khan vacated the NA-53 seat, I-8 union council chairman Ali Nawaz Awan contested the National Assembly election and won the seat. In addition, Seemi Ezdi, the sister of PTI leader Jahangir Tareen, who was elected vice chairperson of union council 29 (F-10 and F-11), has become a senator.

The seat of the chairman of union council 46, Badhana Kalan, was vacated when its chairman Hafeezur Rehman Tepu resigned to contest the general election as an independent.

Although it is expected that the party in power will win by-elections, local political pundits are expecting competition between the PTI and PML-N.

PML-N leader and former MNA Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry claimed his party would win all the seats as “everyone is suffering because of the PTI government’s poor economic policies”.

He said that voters were deceived by the PTI’s slogan of ‘change’ in the general election but “now change has been badly exposed; today inflation and price hikes have made it difficult for the poor to survive.”

He said the people of Islamabad would vote against the ruling party as a form of protest on Nov 2.

Mr Awan, a PTI MNA and adviser to the prime minister on the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) affairs, said his party would win all the seats.

He said the capital is a PTI stronghold and people would vote for the party in the upcoming elections as they did in the general.

He also claimed that PTI MNA’s from the capital have performed well by executing several development projects and have been available to citizens to address their issues.

Sources in both parties said candidates have not yet been finalised, but will be in the next few days.

PTI sources said former vice chairman Haider Bin Masood and Junaid Khattak are in the race for the party ticket in union council 40, while Shakeel Abbasi – who also contested the last local government elections – will be in the race from the PML-N side.

In Tumair, sources said a nephew of Mr Nawaz, the PTI MNA, is among those seeking the party ticket. He could face PML-N candidates such as Sobidar Niaz, Imran Khyzar or Hafiz Iqbal.

Mr Tepu will contest the Badhana Kalan seat as an independent and is believed to be in a good position because of his baradri. Although he lost the NA-54 seat in the general election, he has previously been elected chairman of the same union council.

Sources said the PTI and PML-N are trying to field strong candidates in Badhana Kalan. Pundits said that the PTI would not have a problem winning the vice chairman election in union council 46, as the party is in a better position in this union council than the PML-N, which is struggling to find a suitable candidate.

Residents of the capital have been facing numerous difficulties, including a shortage of water and health facilities, poor garbage collection services, an increase in property taxes and a dengue epidemic, which election candidates could bring forwarded while campaigning.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2019