Sympathy votes go to PML-Q

DAWN
By Zar Alam Khan

THE Lowari rail tunnel and a number of other projects launched
on the directives of President Pervez Musharraf in Chitral won
`sympathy' votes for the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) in the
February 18 elections.
The decisive votes for the king's party in the constituency
of NA-32 came from the Mastuj subdivision, mostly from the valleys
of Yarkhun and Laspur. The subdivision's one provincial assembly
seat also went to the Musharraf-backed party.
Prominently displaying the portraits of the president, the
PML-Q candidates reminded the voters of the `favours' Mr Musharraf
had done for the Chitralis by launching the gigantic Lowari tunnel
project, constructing vital roads and writing off small loans
owned by poor farmers to the Zarai Tarqiati Bank (ZTBL).
The PML-Q also cashed in on the MMA government's dismal performance
and dissent in the local leadership of the PPP over allotment of
ticket.
The Pakistan People's Party not only lost the National Assembly
seat for the fifth consecutive time but also saw its votes further
slumping by 4 per cent compared to the 2002 elections. When the
party last won the seat in 1988, it had polled 55 per cent of the
total votes cast which also dropped to 20.9 per cent this year.
Shahzada Mohiuddin of the PML-Q won the National Assembly seat
by scoring 33,236 votes against 30,961 votes of Sardar Mohammad
Khan, an independent. The PPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin trailed
behind with 18,717 votes, while 2,679 votes went to MMA's Jehangir
Khan (withdrawn) and 697 to Nadir Khwaja, another independent.
Out of the 197,022 registered votes, 89,449 used their right of
franchise - a turnout of 45.40 per cent.
Both the former MMA members of the NWFP assembly belonging to
the JUI-F lost to the PPP and PML-Q candidates. In PF-89 Chitral-1,
PPP's Saleem Khan defeated Maulana Abdul Rehman by a narrow
margin of 622 votes. The JUI-F candidate got 12,322 votes. The
turnout remained 45.34 per cent, as 52,393 votes were polled out
of a total of 115,531.
In PF-90 Chitral-II, the former MPA, Jehangir Khan lost to
PML-Q's Ghulam Mohammad who got 13,570 votes against 12,985 votes
of the MMA nominee. There were 81,491 registered votes in the area
out of which 37,635 were polled and the turnout remained 46.18.



Shahzada Mohiuddin wins NA-32 again

CHITRAL: Shahzada Mohiuddin again won the Chitral National Assembly seat by defeating an independent candidate, Sardar Mohammad Khan by a margin of about 2600 votes. He secured 32,731 votes against 31,075 of the independent contender. PPPP's Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin remained third with 18624 votes.
Shahzada Mohiuddin standing on the PML-Q was lagging behind initially but the results of upper Chitral gave him a complete edge over the maverick new comer.
The PML (Q) also won the provincial Assembly seat PF 90 of upper Chitral through Ghulam Muhammad by securing 13324 votes beating MMA's Moulana Jahangir 13010 votes and PPPP's Shahzada Nisar Jillanee 9597 votes respectively. In PF 89 lower Chitral, provincial Assembly constituency, Muhammad Saleem Khan of the PPPP won the seat by securing 12749 votes against MMA's Moulana Abdul Rahman 12320 and PPP (S) candidate Abdul Wali Khan Advocate 11528 votes. PML (Q)'s Muhammad Shokore got 7103 votes and PML(N)'s Fazl Rahim Advocate got 4303 votes.

Personality main factor in Chitral

DAWN
By Zar Alam Khan
IF past is to take cue from, political parties will count for little as personality clout will hold sway over election for the lone National Assembly and two provincial assembly seats of Chitral.A three-time MNA and former minister of state, two MPAs, religious scholars, lawyers, government contractors as well as a journalist are in the run for the said seats.The constituency - NA-32 - spreads over 14,850 sq-km with hard-to-access, scattered and remote villages having a total population of about 400,000. The number of registered voters in the constituency is 197,022 out of which 107,804 are males and 89,218 are female voters.Clan affiliations, regional rivalries and sectarian divide have been determining factors in all elections held since this formerly princely state was merged into the NWFP as a settled district in 1969.The former minister, Shahzada Mohiuddin, is contesting on the ticket of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) while the PPP has fielded Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin. PPP dissident Sardar Mohammad Khan and Nadir Khwaja, a journalist working with a Peshawar-based Urdu daily, are also in the fray as independent candidates.In the six general elections held since 1985, the seat has gone to Shahzada Mohiuddin three times, to Jamaat-i-Islami twice and the PPP once.In the 1985 party-less elections, Mr Mohiuddin was elected from the area. In 1988, Nusrat Bhutto of the PPP returned with 32,819 votes against Mr Mohiuddin's 23,405 votes and later vacated the seat for a local party worker, Ghafoor Shah. Since then the PPP has not been able to win the seat due to nomination of unsuitable persons including outsiders.In 1990, Mr Mohiuddin defeated Piyar Ali Allana of the PPP, a resident of Karachi, by a margin of 14,641 votes. The PPP got 21,628 votes.In 1993, the seat went to Pakistan Islamic Front's Maulana Abdul Rahim who scored 16,275 votes against 15,765 of Begum Suleman Khan of the PPP.In 1997, Mr Mohiuddin contesting on the ticket of the PML-N again won the seat with 24,302 votes defeating the PPP's Ahmad Saeed Khan who got 12,222 votes. While in 2002, the MMA rooted the PML-Q by a margin of over 13,000 votes.


Electioneering gains momentum

CHITRAL: Electioneering in Chitral which was subdued due to persistent snowfall and subzero temperatures has come alive with improvement in the weather.

Less than a week left for the big day, candidates have started public meetings and intensified their door to door contacts. The significant feature of the elections is the absence of the Jamaat Islami, a major political party in Chitral which has boycotted the elections thus putting a question mark on the credibility of the present process.

For the sole National Assembly seat, there are four candidates in the run which include Shahzada Mohiuddin (PML (Q), Shahzada Ghulam Mohiuddin (PPPP), Sardar Muhammad (Independent) and Nadir Khwaja (Independent).

The main contest is likely to be witnessed between the PML (Q) candidate and Independent Sardar Muhammad.

PPPP Workers including founding members, veterans, Nazims, students bodies etc had overwhelmingly recommended Wg Cdr (r) Fardad Ali Shah as their candidate for the National Assembly, but the party high command for reasons unknown, decided at the eleventh hour to award the ticket to Shahzada Ghulam Muhiuddin, effectively decapitating the party tempo in Chitral.

Old guards of the party talking to this scribe blamed the party's District president for engineering this conspiracy against the party, to cede the National Assembly seat to Shahzada Mohiuddin of the (PML Q), they said. Workers of the PPPP expressing no confidence in the district president, decided to field Sardar Muhammad as an independent candidate.

In PF 89 provincial assembly constituency comprising Chitral sub division, the competition is between Muhammad Salim Khan PPPP. Abdul Wali Khan, PPP (S), Moulana Abdur Rehman (MMA), Shokore Muhammad (PMLQ), Fazle Rahim (PML N).

In PF 90 provincial Assembly constituency comprising Mastuj sub division, the competition is between Shahzada Nisar Jillani (PPPP), Moulana Jahangir (MMA), Ghulam Muhammad (PML(Q).

Weather is expected to be fair on the election day which is a very important consideration for the turnout status of the voters. --CN Report