QUETTA: Independent candidates were leading in Balochistan’s local government (LG) elections, which were held after nine years on Sunday (May 29) in 32 of the province’s 34 districts.
According to unofficial results as of Sunday night, independent candidates were leading on approximately 1,310 seats. JUI-F led with 217 seats, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) with 146, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) with 94, Balochistan National Party (BNP) with 54, PPP with 47, National Party (NP) with 64, and PTI with 22.
According to unofficial and unverified results from 24 of the Loralai municipal committee’s 25 wards, BAP led in 17 wards, independents in four, and PkMAP and JUI-F led on one seat each.
According to unofficial and unverified results from 106 of the 157 wards of the Gwadar municipal committee, the Haq Do Movement led in 52, independents in 34, the BNP in 14, the National Party in two, and the JUI-F in one.
According to unofficial results from 34 of Chaman Municipal Corporation’s 35 wards, PkMAP led with 12 seats, JUI-F with six, ANP with five, and BAP and Oolsi Movement with four each. On three seats, independent candidates were leading.
According to unofficial results from nine of ten wards in municipal committee Washuk, the JUI-F led with seven seats, while the BAP had three. Shahzain Bugti’s Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) led nine of the 11 wards in municipal committee Dera Bugti, while independents led the remaining two.
Several districts experienced violence during the election, and Qalat and Nauskhi were hit by explosions. Authorities, on the other hand, foiled terror plots in Kohlu and Chaman. An armed clash erupted between two groups in Nasirabad Municipal Committee Ward 25 just a few hours into voting. As a result, the voting process was temporarily halted.
Candidates and polling agents clashed, and several were injured in the firing and taken to the hospital. Election violence erupted in the Qilla Abdullah district, killing one person in Padag and injuring another in Kolak Union Council.
In Sibbi, two groups clashed in Ward-4 of Union Council Mal Chachar, resulting in heavy gunfire that injured at least ten people. At least three of the injured were critically injured. Levies reinforcements arrived in the area.
Polling agents from the rival ANP and BAP clashed in Loralai over an alleged omission in the voters’ rolls in the Dargai Qilla area.
Polling in Chaman was halted after political activists clashed in Ward-3 of the Municipal Council Chaman.
Political activists clashed with batons in Dera Murad Jamali Wards 7 and 21. At least two people were injured, including Mahindra Kumar, a candidate for a minority seat. Separately, at the women’s polling station, two ballot paper books were discovered missing, forcing the polls to close.
Six voters clashed with each other and attempted to assault polling staff in Kohlu’s Union Council. The voting process was halted after seven people were injured. A bomb exploded near the women’s polling station in Ward-4 of the Union Council Mengal in Nauskhi. However, there were no reported casualties.
Terrorists in Qalat launched a rocket at Degree College Mangochar, which housed a polling station, and lobbed a hand grenade at another polling station in Dastigard. Balochistan Election Commissioner Fayyaz Murad urged people to vote without fear, claiming that authorities had put strict security measures in place across the province.
He stated that the districts of Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Awaran, Chaman, and Qilla Abdullah had been designated as sensitive. All polling stations were guarded by police, levies, and FC personnel. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had established 5,226 polling stations, at least 1,974 of which had been designated as “sensitive.” A total of 16,195 people ran for seven municipal councils, 838 union councils, 5,345 rural ward seats, and 914 urban ward seats. According to the election commission, at least 1,584 candidates have already run unopposed.
Elections in Quetta and Lasbela were cancelled on the order of the Supreme Court in a case involving objections to new delimitation.
There are 2,006,274 male voters and 1,546,124 female voters among the 3.5 million voters eligible to vote across 32 districts. Since Sunday morning, there has been a lot of excitement among voters, especially young people, who have been flocking to polling stations to vote for their local government representatives. Voter turnout was high; voters flocked to polling stations in large numbers, and a high turnout was anticipated.
Candidates’ supporters set up private polling booths outside the premises of polling stations to educate voters. They also hired private transportation to make it easier for senior citizens, women, and people with disabilities.
