According to unofficial and unverified results released on Monday, the opposition Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) appears to be leading, with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in second place and other political parties and independent candidates trailing further behind in the re-polling for the first phase of local government elections held in the remaining 66 tehsils of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The JUI-F announced the names of its successful candidates in 23 of the province’s tehsils, including city mayors in Peshawar, Kohat, and Bannu, while the PTI claimed victory in 21 of the province’s 66 tehsils. The PTI dealt the JUI-F a huge setback by winning the mayor’s seat in Dera Ismail Khan, the party’s hometown.
Awami National Party got seven seats, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz got three, Jamaat-e-Islami and Tehreek-e-Islah Pakistan got two apiece, and Pakistan Peoples Party got one.
According to preliminary results, “we have 21 seats and the biggest number of votes,” said Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the chief minister’s special assistant on information. He continued, “Many independent members are in contact with us.”
“Dera’s victory is a huge victory. DI Khan is Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s and (PPP’s) Faisal Karim Kundi’s home district, but PTI won.”
He claimed that the PTI ran a political and well-organized campaign, and that “we would win from Karak, Bannu, and Bajaur.”
“We will await the Election Commission’s final results.”
According to provisional consolidated results released by the respective returning officers, Umar Amin Gandapur of the ruling PTI won the mayor’s seat of Dera Ismail Khan with 63,753 votes, followed by Muhammad Kafeel Khan of the JUI-F with 38,891 votes and PPP’s Faisal Karim Kundi with 32,788 votes. Voter turnout maintained at 45.57 percent. Similarly, PTI’s Azmat Ali Khan won the Karak tehsil chairman’s seat with 20,947 votes, defeating Abdur Rehman Khan of the Awami National Party with 16,576 votes and Jan-e-Alam of the JUIF with 10,141 votes.
Shafqatullah Khan, an independent candidate, won the Lakki Marwat tehsil mayor’s seat with 22,618 votes, defeating another independent candidate, Zafarullah Khan, who garnered 20,519 votes, and JUI-Abdur F’s Rahim, who received 17,540 votes. The voter turnout remained at 49.3%.
With 10,231 votes, Tehreek-e-Islahat Pakistan’s Shah Khalid won the Landi Kotal chairmanship in Khyber, while independent candidate Said Alam received 4,707 votes. Voter turnout remained at 22.25 percent.
Gulzar Hussain of the ANP was elected Khudukhel tehsil chairman in Buner district with 7,820 votes, while Muhammad Afsar of the PTI received 7,658 votes. Voter participation was 51.12%.
Syed Badshah of the JUI-F and Haroon Rashid of the Jamaat-e-Islami fought it out for the position of tehsil chairman in Khar Bajaur. Badshah received 18,775 votes, while Rashid received 18,244 votes. The voter turnout remained unchanged at 30.28 percent.
Muhammad Haroon, a JUI-F candidate, won the Pishtekhara tehsil chairman’s seat in Peshawar with 11,321 votes, defeating PML-Tahir N’s Khan with 10162 votes in a constituency where voter turnout remained at 32 percent.
According to the JUI-F, Zubair Ali won the Peshawar mayor’s seat, Faridullah Khan in Mathra tehsil, Mufti Tala Mohammad in Badhaber tehsil, Kaleemullah in Shah Alam tehsil, Maulana Abdul Rauf in Shakir tehsil in Charsadda, Hamza Asif in Shabqadar tehsil
