A total of 8.057 million voters will cast their vote in the second phase in 18 districts of KP, said ECP
JAVED KHAN
PESHAWAR
The second phase of local government elections are set to take place today (Thursday) across 18 districts, including four tribal districts, of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
According to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the districts where the second round of polls will be held included Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Battagram, Torghar, Kohistan Upper, Kohistan Lower, Kolai Palas, Swat, Shangla, Malakand, Dir Upper, Dir Lower,Chitral Upper, and Chitral Lower.
The polling for the slot of Mayor’s Council and the Chairman Tehsil Council, chairman, members of the Village Council (VC) and Neighborhood Council (NC) will be held on the same day.
As per the details, a total of 6,176 polling stations, including 1,246 for male and 1164 for female, and 165,509 polling booths have been set up for the March 31 elections.
Polling materials including ballot papers and polling bags have been dispatched to all concerned stations of the 18 districts.
The process of polling will start at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm.
In a statement issued by the provincial election commission office that local body elections are being held in a total of 65 tehsils of 18 districts.
It said that most polling stations are located in mountainous and remote areas of the province. It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP has declared as 2,326 polling stations sensitive and 1,646 most sensitive in the second round of local government polling in KP. According to the ECP, 28,020 candidates are running in the second round of the polls for various categories. Among these, 651 candidates are running for the city and tehsil council lead positions.
Additionally, 12,980 candidates are in the run for the slot of general councillors, 2,668 for women councillors, 6,451 for peasant councillors, 5213 for youth councillors while 57 were in the run for the seats of minorities councilors, said ECP official data.
As many as 351 general councillors had been elected unopposed in 18 districts of the province, said ECP. Besides, 533 women councillors, 151 peasant councillors, 233 youth councillors and 50 minorities councillors were also elected unopposed for the second local government polls.
The provincial election commission office in a statement has said that the Special Secretary, Secretary Election Commission, and Chief Election Commissioner are monitoring the overall process of polling scheduled to be held today across 18 districts of the province. It may be worth mentioning here that the first phase of local government elections was held in 17 districts of KP in December, 2021.
With the completion of the second round, the process of local government elections would be completed in all districts of KP.
Emergency Control Room established
An emergency control room has been set up in Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Peshawar with effect from 30th March to 1st April 2022 to ensure the holding of the second phase of the local bodies elections in eighteen districts of the province in a peaceful and smooth manner. According to notification Mohsin Iqbal, Deputy Secretary of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat has been nominated as focal person of the control room.
As per the notification, the emergency control room will coordinate all kinds of activities, information and emergencies with the relevant stakeholders; and update about the relevant information to the chief minister till the finalization of the election in order to prevent any untoward incident during the polls. The emergency control room can be accessed on UAN No. 091-111-712-713, Fax No. 091-9210707 and WhatsApp No. 0304-1033435
