PESHAWAR, Aug 15: About 366 seats reserved for minorities in union councils remain vacant in 12 districts of the NWFP for the local government elections scheduled for August 18. In the first phase of polls in 556 union councils, some 470 seats remain vacant of which 366 are those reserved for minorities.

The 12 districts included in the first phase are Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Bannu, D.I.Khan, Tank, Haripur and Buner. According to data collected by Aurat Foundation, an NGO running citizen’s campaign for women representation, 41 seats in Peshawar, 31 in Nowshera, 42 in Charsadda, 59 in Mardan, 48 in Swabi, 24 in Kohat, 20 in Karak, 44 in Bannu, 30 in D.I. Khan, 14 in Tank, four in Haripur and nine minority seats in Buner remain unfilled.

Of the total 20,034 candidates contesting in the first phase, 154 have stood for seats reserved for minorities. In the last LG elections the situation was not much different as about 378 seats reserved for minority groups remained vacant due to absence or less number of minority population.

During the current race, about 111 candidates representing minorities returned unopposed in the 12 districts, according to a statement of provincial Election Commission. About 29 minority candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers.