PESHAWAR, Aug 26: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League has bagged 114 union council nazim seats followed by the JUI-F with 70 and the PPP-P 65 in the second phase of local government elections held in 12 districts of the NWFP on Thursday.
The Jamaat-i-Islami-backed Al-Khidmat Group suffered defeat at the hands of PPP-Parliamentarians and the ANP in its stronghold of Lower Dir district. The JI provincial chief and Senior Minister Sirajul Haq’s brother-in-law lost to an ANP candidate in one of the union councils in Lower Dir.
In Upper Dir, another stronghold of the JI, the party won only 14 of the 28 union councils; 12 went to the PPP-P and one each to the ANP and the PML-N.
Overall, the MMA, and particularly the Jamaat-i-Islami, have suffered the most in the NWFP. According of unofficial results, the JI clinched 24 of the 65 seats of nazims in the Upper and Lower Dir districts. The PPP-backed Awam Dost group bagged 13 seats of nazims in Lower Dir and 12 in Upper Dir.
The ruling PML, which had little to show in the first round of elections held in 12 districts on Aug 18, emerged victorious in Mansehra, Abbottabad, Shangla, Battagram, Swat and Lakki Marwat districts.
The northern districts of Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat and Battagram have traditionally supported the PML. The results there, therefore, do not come as a major surprise.
The party has, however, done well this time in Shangla, the native district of Minister of State for Water and Power and PML provincial president Amir Muqam, and bagged 13 of the 28 union councils.
The ruling party grabbed 27 seats of nazims in Abbottabad, 11 in Battagram, 14 in Lakki Marwat, 26 in Mansehra, 13 in Shangla, 16 in Swat, but only three in Chitral.
The JUI-F clinched four seats of nazims in Malakand, eight in Battagram, seven in Hangu, eight in Kohistan, 26 in Mansehra, five in Shangla and four each in Swat and Lakki Marwat.
The ANP-backed Watan Dost group could not win any seat in Abbottabad, Battagram, Chitral or Lakki Marwat. The party clinched 15 seats in Swat, four in Shangla, eight in Lower Dir, seven in Malakand, two in Hangu and one each in Upper Dir and Mansehra.
In Mansehra, Sardar Mohammad Yousaf’s group backed by the PML defeated the group backed by Senator Azam Swati. The wealthy senator had the support of the MMA, chiefly the JUI-F and its leader Maulvi Kefayatullah.
The PPP-P has done well in Chitral, winning 11 of the 24 union councils, followed by JUI-F with 8.
In Chitral, the result of one union council was a tie and the winner will likely be decided by a toss.
In Hangu district, the JUI-F-backed Muttahida has won seven seats of nazims, with the PPP (Sherpao) getting five seats. The PML-N has won three seats and the ANP two. Two independent panels also won the nazim seats.