Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
Exclusive Report
Quetta – Last phase of Local Government elections concluded in Balochistan with clear victory for three parties that are coalition members of Balochistan government.
First phase of Local government elections took place in Balochistan on 7th December 2013, Second phase on 29th May and Third phase on 31st December. Fourth and last phase was conducted today which was for elections of Mayors, deputy mayors or chairman and deputy chairman of 32 districts of Balochistan.
Dr. Kaleemullah, a 78 year old medical doctor belonging from PKMAP, was elected as Mayor of Quetta city with 54 votes out of Electoral College of 87. Muhammad Younus Baloch of PML-N was elected as Deputy Mayor of the Quetta city. Both candidates were nominees of the government panel which comprised of all Political Parties in Balochistan government.
Credit: Jamal Tarakai
All Parties Democratic Alliance (APDA) could only get 14 votes in the election for mayor and deputy mayor of Quetta. APDA was all set to win the election in Quetta before Nawaz Sharif instructed PML-N Balochistan to withdraw its support for APDA and instead support nominees of government panel.
Mr. Dawood Notezai of Baba-e-Chagai panel was elected as Chairman of District council Chagai, according to the correspondent of The Balochistan Point. There was a tie between Baba-e-Chagai Panel and Islam Taraqee Pasand Panel and coin was tossed to break the tie. The toss resulted in declaring Dawood Notezai as the winner and Haji Rauf as the runners up.
The Balochistan Point correspondent from Turbat reported that candidates of National Party were elected as Chairman and deputy-chairman, unopposed in Kech District. Haji Fida Dashti was elected Chairman whereas as Mohammed Naseem was elected as deputy chairman of Kech Municipal Corporation.
In Kalat district Mir Babrak Zehri of PML-N was elected as chairman and Hafiz Ibrahim Lehri of JUI-F was elected as deputy chairman of District council. There was an alliance between PML-N, JUI-F and NP for the elections in Kalat district.
In Earthquake affected district of Awaran, Naseer Bizenjo has been elected as chairman of District council, according to confirmed reports.
The Balochistan Point has learnt that elections in Mastung, Qilla Abdullah, Bolan, Zhob and Qilla Saifullah were postponed due to issue of incomplete Quorum. At least two-thirds of Electoral College must be present to conduct the elections and for some reason the councilors were absent in Mastung district.
According to reports received late night, Sharaf Agha and Mohmeed Essa Roshan, both belong from PKAMP, were elected Chairman distinct council and chairman municipal corporation of Pishin district respectively. In Khuzdar district, Mir Raheem Kurd of National Party and Agha Shakeel Durrani of PML-N were elected Chairman Municipal Corporation and Chairman district council respectively.
It’s really difficult to ascertain the result of local government elections of several districts due to lack of central election result reporting mechanism by Election commission of Pakistan (ECP). There is no portal on ECP website where result of all districts is available that could have been used by journalists and civil society members.
These elections have been marred with negligence, favoritism and riggings. Opposition has repeatedly blamed Balochistan government for delaying the transfer of power to local government, for more than a year. Issue of incomplete quorum in more than one district proves that there are still some difficulties in completion of transfer of power.
Hassan Baloch from Chagai and Sami Parvez from Turbat contributed to this report
Published in The Balochistan Point on January 28, 2015
