LAKKI MARWAT - The JUI-F has grabbed majority of the reserved seats in the district and tehsil councils of Lakki Marwat and Naurang as per a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding successful candidates.
Of 11 reserved seats for women, JUI-F got six seats followed by PPPP and PTI with three and two seats, respectively.
Ikhtiar Bibi, Farah Naz, Samina, Basmirah Bibi, Nawab Bibi and Anjum Bibi were declared successful on reserved seats for women from the JUI-F quota in the district council. From PPPP quota, Mehtabun Nisa, Bibi Zubaida and Awal Bibi remained successful.
Two reserved seats for women went to Rizwana Shaheen and Yasmin Sehr of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. Faridullah Khan of JUI-F and Samiullah Khan of PPPP were also declared successful on reserved seats for peasants/workers in the district council.
Kifayatullah Khan of JUI-F and Umer Farooq of PPPP, respectively, bagged the two seats reserved for youth in the district council. Pitras Maseeh of JUI-F and Yousaf Masih of PPPP, respectively, were declared successful on reserved seats for non-Muslims in the district council.
In Lakki Marwat tehsil council, five reserved seats for women went to Sadiqa Begum, Gul Meena, Robina Bibi, Sara Bibi and Durana Nisa affiliated with JUI-F.
Two candidates of PTI, Nasim Begum and Sultan Bibi, and one from PPPP, Islam Bibi, were declared successful on reserved seats for women.
Naseer Nawaz of JUI-F and Shaukat Husaain of PTI were declared successful on reserved seats for peasants/workers. Two seats reserved for youth in Lakki Marwat tehsil council went to Behram Khan of JUI-F and Asfandyar of PTI.
The JUI-F also secured two out of three seats reserved for women in Naurang tehsil council. The successful women candidates of JUI-F are Bibi Zurjana and Islam Bibi.
Akhtar Zada was declared successful on reserved seat from Jamat-e-Islami quota. The sole reserved seat for peasants/workers in Naurang tehsil council went to Faridullah Khan of JUI-F while Wasim Khan of the same party was declared successful on reserved seat for youth.
The reserved seats for minorities in Lakki Marwat and Naurang tehsil councils remained vacant as no one filed nomination papers nor did any political party submit priority lists to the returning officers concerned.
Meanwhile, the political parties have geared up efforts to secure the top slots of local government in the district. The six-party alliance, headed by Saifullahs, and Fazlur Rehman-led Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam are eyeing the posts of district and tehsil nazims.
None of the two groups has so far finalised the names of aspirants for the offices of the district nazim and district naib nazim of the district council and tehsil nazims and tehsil naib nazims of Lakki Marwat and Naurang tehsil councils. A former city nazim and PPPP district councilor-elect from Lakki city-I, Ashfaq Ahmad Khan Meenakhel from the six-party alliance, has emerged a strong candidate for the post of district nazim.
Sources close to Saifullah brothers said the six-party held several meetings at local level as well as in Peshawar and Islamabad to discuss the matters relating to the post-local government elections to reach consensus on nomination of candidates for the top offices of the tehsil and district governments.
They revealed a delegation of newly elected tehsil and district councilors, affiliated with the six parties’ led by former federal minister also met Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and discussed with him the formation of governments in the district and problems faced by the residents of their wards.
Sources said Ashfaq Meenakhel, belonging to a respectable Muhammad Khankhel clan of Meenakhel tribe, and being a close aide of Salim Saifullah Khan, had a strong political background. He also served as the city nazim in the local government setup during the Musharraf era and possesses capabilities as well as a lot of experience to run the district government successfully, the sources claimed.
They also revealed that the components of the six-party alliance had authorised Saifullah brothers to choose a suitable candidate for the top offices of the local government, saying former federal minister Anwar Saifullah Khan and ex-MNA Humayun Saifullah Khan have consented to the proposal of fielding Ashfaq Ahmad Khan Meenakhel as consensus candidate for the office of the district nazim. “A formal announcement to this effect will be made in the next two days,” they divulged.