Increasing public presence

The PML-N is currently the most vibrant political party in the province and has been organising public gatherings across K-P with increasing frequency. It is not uncommon to find Vice President Amir Muqam addressing a gathering in northern K-P, while other party stalwarts like Farid Toofan, Rahmat Salam Khattak and Zafar Azam are busy campaigning in the southern districts of the province. At the same time, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Pir Sabir Shah, Nasir Musazai and others are mustering support in the central districts, including Peshawar, attracting undecided voters and dissidents from other parties.

According to official figures shared by provincial General Secretary Rahmat Salam Khattak, in March alone, the PML-N organised 25 public meetings of which eight were attended by majority of the central leadership from K-P. “On Sunday alone, we had 12 public gatherings across the province,” Khattak informed.

Overcoming schism

A few months ago, the party was witnessing rifts in its ranks – wherein the induction of Amir Muqam in April 2012 and his subsequent active role in bringing in three MPAs of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and showing great political strength triggered concerns among certain leaders that Muqam might surpass them in a short time.

Muqam’s induction also created dissention among party ranks at district levels, with leaders openly coming together against the awarding of district slots to Muqam’s colleagues at the expense of ignoring older party workers.

However, the PML-N successfully rode out the turbulence. Party chief Nawaz Sharif took notice and strictly directed the leadership in K-P to shun their differences and show unity. To further dispel dissention, Sharif made Muqam the party’s Fata Coordinator to gain popularity in the tribal areas, which will be experiencing elections for the first time after the extension of the political parties act in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

The old leadership of PML-N is now satisfied with Muqam focusing on the electorate of his hometown Shangla and the northern regions of K-P to muster support for the party along with spreading its roots in Fata.

A broadening spectrum

The Awami National Party’s (ANP) stance of not forming any pre-poll alliances will also be an added advantage for PML-N in K-P.

Talks between the Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) regarding prospects of an alliance failed a few days ago. Meanwhile, both Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are in talks to hold meetings regarding cooperation in the general elections.

With the absence of common ground between the JI and JUI-F to form an alliance, the divergence among them is further opening space for PML-N to bank on. The party’s K-P leadership is now harnessing the opportunity by separately entering into talks with both JI and JUI-F leadership for a pre-poll alliance, including the prospects of seat adjustments.

The move, if successful, is bound to yield good electoral results for PML-N in K-P.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2013.

The Provincial Selection Board (PBS) – an apex body within the secretariat which deals with promotions – headed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary sent a notification regarding the promotions on Friday. This excluded all PS who were awaiting the rank of section officers (SO).

After December 4, 2012, it was decided and duly notified – out of the 20% joint promotion quota for private secretaries and superintendents, as established by the Provincial Management Services rules; two PS would be promoted for every three SI pushed up the ranks.

However, after a recent meeting of the PSB, eight superintendents were promoted to SOs much to the annoyance of the private secretaries. This meant the board made the promotions according to retrospect rules based on the abolished joint-seniority list.

“The working paper placed before the PBS said to promote five superintendents and three PS to senior officers according to the agreed summary, but surprisingly it was not acted upon,” an official said. The summary was prepared to take immediate effect for ‘future vacancies’, he added.

The Express Tribune learnt further irregularities occurred in the promotions, wherein instead of promotions to just the eight available seats; a ninth promotion was also made. Allegedly, this was meant to favour an acting section officer in the PSB by permanently making him a section officer.

Under the Provincial Management Services rules, out of the total 604 posts, 50% would be recruited through open advertisements, 20% would be tehsildars and 20% would be PS and SI (to be distributed with 2:3 ratio among them with PS having 48 posts and Superintendents 72 posts) and the remaining 10% would be recruited through in-service employees examination.

Official sources said the decision of the PSB, taken on February 28, 2013, to promote superintendents at the cost of the private secretary quota will cap the promotion of PS for several years.

Officials have appealed to the governor, chief minister and the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to take notice of the decision. One official said the decision is causing growing frustration among employees who were waiting their turn for promotions.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.

The party will convene its provincial parliamentary board meeting on Sunday (today) to finalise which candidates will be awarded a party ticket to stand for provincial and national assembly seats.

The parliamentary board, comprised of ten members including provincial president Pir Sabir Shah, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Amir Muqam, Khawaja Muhammad Hoti, Farid Toofan, Rahmat Salam Khattak, Salahuddin Tirmizi, Arsala Khan Hoti and Malik Jahanzeb, has decided to complete party ticket allocations in two phases.

On March 24 the parliamentary board will conduct interviews of potential candidates from the central and southern districts of K-P, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, Hangu, Lakki Marwat, Tank and DI Khan.  Interviews for reserved minority seats will be conducted the same day.

On March 26, the parliamentary board will conduct interviews of possible ticket holders from Hazara and Malakand. Interviews for seats reserved for women will be conducted the same day.

PML-N provincial general secretary Rahmat Salam Khattak confirmed the parliamentary board’s schedule. “After interviews are conducted, the central parliamentary board’s approval on all candidates will be required.”

He added all decisions on party candidates would be finalised by the evening of March 27.

Khattak further said candidates would be chosen on the basis of certain factors such as their commitment and influence in their respective communities. He claimed no guidelines on the matter had been given by the party’s central leadership.

Khattack said the party has received 300 applications from potential candidates seeking party seats in the K-P assembly, and 90 applications for tickets pertaining to national assembly seats. Eight applications were received for each seat reserved for minorities, while 32 applications were received for seats reserved for women in the national and provincial assemblies.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2013. 

PESHAWAR: As the interim setup in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) finalises, nine caretaker ministers were inducted in the provincial cabinet on Sunday.

Four days after caretaker Chief Minister (CM) Justice (Retd) Tariq Pervez took charge on March 20, Abdur Rauf Khattak, Ishaq Khattak, Fayaz Ahmad Khan Toru, Muhammad Yunus Marwat, Samin Jan Babar, Umer Farooq Khan, Dr Farrukh Sair, Mussarat Qadeem and Jehangir Khan Tareen took oath as caretaker ministers.

More will take oath in the coming days which will mark the end of setting up an interim government in the province.

In the presence of the chief minister, Governor Shaukatullah Khan administered oath at the Governor House. The ceremony was attended by political figures and high-ranking civil and police officials including K-P Assembly former speaker Kiramatullah Khan, Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir Akhtar and Inspector General Police Akbar Khan Hoti.

Abdur Rauf Khattak, Samin Jan Babar and Younas Khan Marwat are retired bureaucrats and have served on important assignments before.

Fayaz Khan Toru had served as the inspector general of police and home secretary whereas Engineer Ishaq Khattak, Omar Farooq Khan and Dr Farrukh Sair are counted amongst technocrats.

The only female caretaker minister, Mussarat Qadeem, originally from Charsadda but settled in Islamabad, belongs to civil society organisations. She has also taught at the University of Peshawar’s Political Science department.

Jehangir Khan Tareen, from Haripur, belongs to an influential family in the region and is a retired government official. He has previously served as chief commissioner Afghan refugees, joint secretary Kashmir affairs and was also a member of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

Talking to the media after the oath-taking ceremony, CM Khan said: “After performing Umrah, the governor will administer oath to the other caretaker ministers to be inducted in the provincial caretaker cabinet.”

To a question regarding the portfolio of the ministers, Pervez said that their portfolio will be decided after holding a meeting with them (the ministers) and taking into account their capacities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2013.

PPP’s provincial chief Anwar Saifullah Khan will contest NA-26 (Bannu), while his brother Humayun Saifullah Khan will run for NA-27 (Lakki Marwat). Similarly, Arbab Alamgir Khan, son of Arbab Jahangir Khan, will be PPP’s candidate for NA-2 (Peshawar-II) Noor Alam Khan will contest NA-3 (Peshawar-III), while Engineer Muhammad Tariq Khattak will run for NA-6 (Nowshera-II).

“For some national and provincial assembly constituencies, party tickets will be awarded within the next couple of day,” Liaquat Shahbab, the party’s provincial secretary information, told a news briefing at the PPP Secretariat in Peshawar. He added that barring a few constituencies, tickets have been awarded to former MNAs and MPAs of the PPP in the outgoing assemblies.

He said that “PPP’s provincial parliamentary board recommended the allocation of tickets in K-P – a decision that was duly approved by the party’s central parliamentary board”.

He added that the PPP was also working on possible electoral alliances with Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F and Aftab Sherpao’s Qaumi Wattan Party in the region. “We can even talk to the ANP on issues,” he added. “We have made four regional committees – and they have been authorised to work out seat-to-seat adjustment with any party for better results in elections,” he added.

In the end, Liaquat Shahbab formally announced the names of recipients of party tickets for the 2013 elections. “For every constituency, there will be a covering candidate as well,” he said without sharing their names with media.

The 10 National Assembly constituencies where the party has yet not finalised its candidates are NA-1 (Peshawar-I), NA-16 (Hangu), NA-17 (Abbottabad-I), NA-18 Abbottabad-II, NA-19 (Haripur), NA-21 (Mansehra-II), NA-22 (Battagram), NA-23 (Kohistan), NA-25 (Tank) and NA-29 (Swat-I).

Similarly, the 22 provincial assembly constituencies where the party has not picked out candidates are PK-37 (Kohat-I), PK-42 (Hangu-I), PK-43 (Hangu-II), PK-48 (Abbottabad-V), PK-50 (Haripur-II), PK-51 (Haripur-III), PK-53 (Mansehra-I), PK-55 (Mansehra-III), PK-56 Mansehra-IV), PK-57 (Mansehra-V), PK 58 (Mansehra-VI), PK-59 (Battagram-I), PK-60 (Battagram-II), PK-61 (Kohistan-I) , PK-62 (Kohistan-II), PK-63 Kohistan-III), PK-65 (DI Khan-II), PK-66 (DI Khan-III), PK-69 (Tank), PK-70 (Bannu-I), PK-76 (Lakki Marwat-III), PK-80 (Swat-I) and PK-90 (Chitral-II).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2013.

PESHAWAR: Tribal feuds may surface if the government does not settle property disputes around the Gomal Zam Dam project.

These views were expressed by participants during a programme on ‘Gomal Zam Command Area Advocacy’, organised by the Regional Institute of Policy Research and Training (RIPORT) in collaboration with a USAID project ‘Small Grants Ambassador Fund Progam’ (SGAFP) on Tuesday in Peshawar.

Taking almost a century to be built, the Gomal Zam Dam, which is 95% complete, presents the government with a challenge to settle land disputes in the region. It is feared these disputes will escalate to a tribal feud owing to collective land ownership and absentia landlords now exerting their authority for its possession.

A feasibility report on the dam’s construction was first made by the British in 1914, but the start of World War I stopped the process from materialising. This happened again due to World War II after another report was submitted in 1935. After 1947, three more feasibility reports were given and the process finally began in 2001 when the government announced its construction.

The dam, situated in Kajori Kuch, South Waziristan, will function for irrigation purposes in addition to producing 20MW of electricity. Its completion will benefit 81 villages, 51 in DI Khan and 80 in Tank, by irrigating 195,000 acres of land.

Ahmad Zeb, member of a civil society organisation, said the major issue faced by locals surrounding the dam is collective land ownership. Additionally, absentia landlords are now attempting to exert their authority over the property which has been cultivated by its tenants for decades.

“With land possession issues surfacing, Kulachi is to face serious disputes once lands irrigation begins,” said Humayun Khan, a resident of Tank district.

Khalid Aziz, the chairman of RIPORT, said earlier the land did not bear as much importance. However, after its construction, those who had left large holdings to their tenants want them back.

“RIPORT and the provincial government are working to set up a consultative institutional mechanism, based on community and government stakeholders, to addressing agriculture related challenges,” he said.

“We have a few dams in the country,” said Secretary Planning and Development (P&D) Dr Asad Ali. “Southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) districts have vast tracts of land but depend on rainwater for cultivation. Public private partnership is the need of the hour.”

The secretary said it was important to educate people on how to utilise the irrigation system, so that they could get the best output for their investment.

“As opposed to the past, we now have a better vision and a comprehensive development strategy. We also have Post-Crisis Needs Assessment programmes in K-P that will transform the region in 8-10 years”, he added.

“The people’s social and economic life is going to change for the better once the dam is functional,” said Tank Assistant Commissioner Revenue Sadaqatullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2013.

According to sources, the parties have entered a seat adjustment agreement in Lakki Marwat and PPP provincial president Anwar Saifullah Khan is likely to stand as their joint candidate in Bannu for a National Assembly seat. The sources added the preliminary list of PPP and PML-N candidates had confirmed the ground situation in the two districts.

Anwar Saifullah is contesting for NA-26 Bannu and PK-74 Lakki Marwat along with Humayun Saifullah Khan from NA-27 Lakki Marwat and PK-75 Lakki Marwat. PML-N has named Salim Saifullah Khan as its candidate from NA-27 Lakki Marwat.

Sources claim Humayun Saifullah Khan will announce his withdrawal from the polls allowing his brother Salim Saifullah Khan, who will contest as an independent candidate, to take his place. Not contesting on a PML-N ticket will leave space for any further seat adjustment between the parties.

PPP has left open PK-76 Lakki Marwat, where PML-N has named Akhtar Munir as its candidate. In return, the PML-N has left open the national assembly seat of NA-26 Bannu for Anwar Saifullah.

So far, both parties have nominated candidates for four provincial assembly seats from Bannu, but have left open one constituency each without naming candidates. There also exists a possibility of seat adjustment on provincial assembly seats in Bannu.

PML-N has nominated Malik Nasir Khan from PK-70, Bannu-I, Dr Sahib Zaman for PK-72, Bannu-III, and Ahmad Mustafa Ali Khan for PK-73, Bannu-IV. The party is yet to decide on PK-71, Bannu-II.

Meanwhile, Fakhr-e-Azam Khan from PK-71, Bannu-II, Advocate Shoaib from PK-72, Bannu-III, and Pashtunyar Khan from PK-73, Bannu-IV have been nominated by the PPP, with the candidate for PK-70, Bannu-I, undecided as yet.

To overcome existing rifts in the party which have led workers to support either Zulfiqar Afghani or Azam Afridi in Peshawar, Anwar Saifullah Khan has also filed nomination papers from NA-1, Peshawar-I.

This will allow Khan to stand against the Awami National Party’s Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan if the rift remains unresolved within PPP’s ranks in Peshawar.

PPP and PML-N’s manoeuvres will raise serious concerns for JUI-F as party chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman is himself a candidate from NA-27 Lakki Marwat, where he will be competing against Salim Saifullah Khan who will have PPP’s support.

The maulana will also be contesting against Faisal Karim Kundi, who beat him in the 2008 polls, in his native DI Khan. JUI-F provincial president Akram Khan Durrani, on the other hand, will be standing against PML-N backed Anwar Saifullah for the NA-26 Bannu seat. Durrani will also have to face Malik Nasir Khan, supported by PPP, in PK-70, Bannu-I.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2013.

K-P has 35 seats in the National Assembly – eight are reserved for women. In the K-P Assembly, there are 99 general seats – 22 seats are reserved for women. Reserved seats are filled by political party nominees, according to a party’s strength in the assembly.

Three women candidates will contest the 2013 elections on tickets awarded to them by their respective political parties. These women will confront their male counterparts – almost all of whom are political heavy weights in their respective constituencies.

Going one step further are the female candidates who will run as independent candidates, competing for both the K-P and National Assembly general seats.

Tough competition

Former MPAs Shazia Aurangzeb, Syeda Nasira Batool and ex-MNA Khurshid Begum were nominees of various political parties for reserved seats in the previous national and provincial assemblies. This time they will campaign to win general seats.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) dissident Shazia Aurangzeb recently joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after developing differences with PML-N’s provincial leadership.

Aurangzeb is running for a National Assembly seat, NA-9 Mardan-I, on a PPP ticket. Her opponents will be Awami National Party (ANP) stalwart and ex-chief minister Amir Haider Hoti, ex-federal minister Khawaja Muhammad Khan Hoti from the PML-N and ex-MNA Maulana Shujaul Mulk from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

The vocal and active Aurangzeb is also a PPP nominee for reserved seats in the K-P Assembly.

The PML-N has awarded the party ticket for PK-68 DI Khan to Syeda Nasira Batool.

Batool was an MPA on a JUI-F reserved seat in the previous assembly. She recently joined the PML-N and will contest for a general seat on the party ticket.

Running for PK-68 is not an easy task given her opponent, Syed Mureed Kazim, has been elected thrice from the same constituency. Kazim is contesting the polls on an ANP ticket.

Khurshid Begum, a lawyer by profession, was earlier an MNA on an ANP reserved seat. She decided to leave party politics behind to run as an independent from NA-14 Kohat. She will be contesting against Pir Dilawar Shah, who has now joined the PPP.

Khurshid will also be fighting against PML-N contender Malik Asad.

There is a history of bad blood between the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) and ANP over the death of former MPA Alamzeb Umerzai. Alam was affiliated with the erstwhile PPP-Sherpao, now known as the QWP, when he was killed. ANP leaders Bashir Umerzai and his son are charged with his murder.

The QWP has elected to field Alamzeb’s widow  Najma Zeb to contest NA-7 Charsadda in a face off against ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan.

New blood

The rest of the female candidates running for general seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are new in the field of politics.

Aneela Shaheen, a journalist by profession, is contesting from NA-4 Peshawar, Nowshera Dilroba Yousafzai from PK-15 Nowshera and Guldana Bibi from PK-69 Tank.

Asma Mehmud will stand as an independent candidate from both NA-32 and PK-89 Chitral.

Farah Khan, a Peshawar High Court lawyer, is competing for PK-41 Karak against PML-N’s Malik Zafar Azam, PPP’s Jehanzeb Khan, JUI-F’s Malik Qasim, ANP’s Mohsin Ali Khan, a former senior minister.

Nusrat Begum, who was the district vice-president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, will file papers as an independent for NA-34 Lower Dir.

Badam Zari is the first woman to file nomination papers from the tribal areas.  She will be contesting  for NA-44 Bajaur Agency as an independent candidate.

The tribal belt will participate in the 2013 polls under the extension of the Fata Political Parties Act – whereby candidates from Fata can stand for elections on various parties’ tickets.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2013.

“The party has taken all decisions for general and reserved seats on merit,” Muqam said at a press conference at his residence. “It is reviewing [some] decisions, keeping in view the wishes of its workers.”

Muqam said he withdrew in favour of Mosazai after consulting party leadership. However, he will be contesting the 2013 polls on a PML-N ticket from NA-30 Swat-II.

He said PML-N is also reviewing its decision for PK-81 from where Sheharyar Amir Zeb will now contest on behalf of the party. “It is our joint responsibility to support the party’s nominees in the general elections so that we can emerge as a strong political force,” said Muqam.

Commenting on seat adjustments, he said the PML-N is still negotiating with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). “However, no progress has been made so far. Political parties should keep in mind ground realities before holding negotiations for seat adjustment.”

Muqam said the party will finalise its candidates by April 8, adding: “But till then, our doors are open for entering into any alliance with any interested party. After April 8, no alliance will be possible.”

He said the PML-N opposes any ban on women participating in elections and will try to ensure they get to exercise their right to vote in all areas, including Kohistan. “The party will not enter into any alliance with parties who oppose women voting,” he said.

In response to a question, Muqam voiced his plurality and said every person, including former president Pervez Musharraf, has the right to contest elections.

Nasir Khan Mosazia, PML-N’s candidate for NA-4, said he will jointly campaign with Haji Siffat, the party’s candidate for PK-11, adding both will try their best to meet expectations.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2013.

“The government is running a Rs1.61 billion deficit,” said an official of the finance department, adding most provincial government departments have missed their targets.

The departments were given a target to generate revenue of around Rs4.64 billion, but were only able to collect Rs3.03 billion. “If the current trend continues, there is a risk of increasing the deficit for the upcoming financial year,” said the official.

Explaining the multiple reasons for the departments failing to achieve their targets, the official said: “The nature of the working environment in a department takes a toll on its efficiency. For instance, some departments have outstanding dues, while others face revenue collection difficulties due to non-payment by customers, especially the water and power department.”

“Not only do common consumers default on payments, many government departments fail to pay their electricity dues,” he added.

Another example he cited was of the transportation department, which fell only Rs2.6 million short of its intended target. “This is because the revenue collection mechanism is more compartmentalised, making the recovery of dues comparatively easier.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2013.

Militants attacked the station last Monday, which left four Wapda employees and three policemen dead. Since then, four people had been missing.

Law enforcement agencies were searching for the men in the suburbs adjacent to Badhaber. The grid station falls next to the militancy-hit Khyber Agency.

Confirming the news, Skeikh Muhammadi Grid Station Sub-Divisional Officer, Engineer Junaid Khan said: “Fahim Khan, Shoaib Khan, Hafiz Faizul Bari and Zeeshan Khan have been released. I met all of them and they are fine.”

He said he was not sure where they had been released from. They were freed from different areas from where they took cabs and reached their homes, Khan said.

Shahjehan, a Wapda official, added that Fahim and Shoaib were SDOs while Bari and Zeeshan were Sub-Station Officers.

Badhaber DSP Fazal-e-Mula said he had been informed about the workers release. However, he added, “They were not recovered from our jurisdiction.”

Earlier, the Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (Heclu) had warned of holding countrywide protests and strikes if the workers were not found.

The union has also demanded a compensation of Rs3 million for the families of the four slain employees and better security for Wapda employees. “We have consistently come under militant attacks in the past few months in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It has become difficult for us to continue our services when the government and security forces are taking less and less interest in our protection,” said Heclu central leader Gohar Ali.

In the past six years, 110 attacks have been reported at Pesco installations. Thirteen attacks took place in the year 2007, 23 in 2008, 29 in 2009, 8 in 2010, 19 in 2011 and 16 in the year 2012. In 2013, two such attacks have taken place in Peshawar alone.

In the past, however, most of the attacks were limited to the bombing of towers and it was only in January 2012 when the militants turned their guns onto human targets as well. In that month, 11 Pesco workers were kidnapped by Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) militants from the Badabher area for the first time. Three of them are still in the custody of militants to this day while others have been released as they were working for a contractor and not Pesco.

Pesco employees believe they are being attacked because they are government employees and because Pesco installations, being spread out across the province, present easy targets.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2013.

KARAK / PESHAWAR: Enraged residents of Mithawala, Karak, blocked the Indus Highway near Jail Chowk after three people sustained injuries in a clash between locals and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) personnel on Wednesday.

Eye witnesses claimed Pesco personnel along with a contingent of police officials visited Mithawala village near Karak city to disconnect the area’s power supply due to non-payment of dues by consumers. However, residents of the area gathered and stopped the officials from disconnecting electricity supply.

Pesco spokesperson Shaukat Afzal said a team of police and Pesco officials headed by SDO Rizwanullah reached the site of 5 tube wells at Mithawala, which had heavy arrears. “A mob gathered and attacked the Pesco Team,” said Afzal. “Officials were restrained from disconnecting power and removing metres.”

Witnesses claimed harsh words were exchanged and residents damaged a Pesco vehicle by pelting stones. During the clash, Pesco lineman Muhammad Ismael sustained injuries, prompting the police to resort to aerial firing and baton charge to disperse the enraged crowd. Two village residents identified as Gul Muhammad and Mehmood Anwar were injured as a result.

Later, villagers blocked a portion of the Indus Highway. Traffic remained suspended for over an hour after which national and provincial assembly lawmakers, including Shah Abdul Aziz, Khursheed Khattak and Javaid Iqbal, negotiated with District Police Officer (DPO) Ateequllah Wazir at a CNG station.

Elders demanded the restoration of power in the area along with the transfer of Pesco’s Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) for Karak, Rizwanullah, and DSP Amanullah. They also demanded an FIR be registered against the two officials. The DPO assured the elders their demands would be accepted if the highway is unblocked.

The Water and Power Development Authority’s Pegham Union condemned the attack on Pesco personnel and decided not to resume the recovery campaign until the incident has been investigated.

“Pesco’s chief executive officer has taken the matter up with the provincial government and high-ranking police officials in order to avoid such incidents in the future,” Afzal informed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2013.

Women make up roughly half the population of the country, but in most cases are still dependent on their male counterparts to be selected for political bodies and assemblies through seats reserved for them.

Seven women are going to fight for general seats in the National Assembly (NA) from K-P – of these, five are independent candidates. Only one will stand from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) of the 12 seats allocated to tribal areas.

Two political parties have given general tickets to women for the NA – Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Qaumi Watan Party to Shazia Aurangzeb and Najma Zeb, respectively.

The five remaining candidates are Khurshid Begum from NA-14 Kohat, Aneela Shaheen from NA-4 Peshawar, Asma Mehmood NA-32 Chitral, Nusrat Begum NA-34 Lower Dir and Badam Zari from NA-44 Bajaur Agency.

Similarly, only one political party has fielded a female candidate for the 99 general seats in the K-P Assembly. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) gave a ticket to Syeda Nasira Batool from PK-68 DI Khan.

The three other candidates-Asma Mehmood, Dilroba Yusufzai and Guldana Bibi from PK-89 Chitral, PK-15 Nowshera and PK-69 Tank- are vying for the elections on general seats as independent candidates.

This sparse showing of women from ‘mainstream’ political parties blows a hole in their claims of aspiring towards a vibrant democracy.

Blue Veins Programme Coordinator Qamar Naseem finds these parties are doing a disservice to themselves. “Women have weak representation in political parties and that’s a disadvantage for these parties.” Just in time for the polls, the organisation recently released ‘Women’s Manifesto 2013’, a result of consultations and focus groups with women and students in K-P and Fata.

The “women vote bank is very tiny. If it somehow it increases up to 40 percent, it will help attract, rather, force political parties to increase female representation in their respective parties,” said Naseem.

“Even in the ECP, the presence of women is negligible.”

For Fareeda Iqbal, the time for female voters to make their voice heard is now. As Pakistan gears up for 2013 elections, political parties should know the female vote is equally powerful. Women should claim their position and refuse to be kept at the sidelines, said Iqbal, also from the same NGO.

Efforts should be made to raise the female quota in parliament and senate to 50%, suggests Asma Riaz, another Blue Veins member. The government should ensure women are not barred from voting and results of those polling stations where women are unable to vote should be cancelled, according to Riaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2013.

Employees of government departments, including the Civil Secretariat, education sector, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and health department, were facing problems in getting promoted along with service structure issues. Employees complained those awaiting promotions are often overlooked due to office politics and favoritism.

“All the administrative secretaries and heads of departments have been told to review the service structure of their respective departments for any deficiency,” said an official at Civil Secretariat.

Sources said the regulation wing of the establishment department at the Civil Secretariat had issued detailed instructions to government departments, administrative secretaries and department heads.

The establishment department had previously issued a draft addressing the service structure, but complaints of non-compliance remained.

“The service structure presents issues at the expense of aspirations of the employees,” said All K-P Subject Specialists Association (AKSSA) President Salar Islam Tariq.

Commenting on issues in the education department, Tariq said: “In the Elementary and Secondary Education department, the seniority list of grade-18 officials is yet to be finalised even after a laps of one year.”

AKSSA Press Secretary Hafizullah Wazir said the grade-17 seniority list is also pending.

Recently, private secretaries at the Civil Secretariat were due promotions as prescribed by the Provincial Management Services (PMS) rules. Their promotions, however, were disregarded, creating anxiety among employees.

Wapda employees in K-P also suffer from service structure problems. Pakistan Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (PHECLU) provincial convener Pir Qahirullah said the establishment department’s clerical staff faces similar issues. Some employees should have been promoted long ago, but still remain at junior positions, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2013.

“We ask the ECP to take notice of threats against the party and to provide a level playing field to all political parties contesting in the elections,” ANP’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) President Senator Afrasiab Khattak said during a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday.

“Extremist elements are after the ANP. The party is not going to yield to these threats and will not allow them to derail us and bring fundamentalist forces to the fore instead,” Khattak said while referring to recent attacks on the party’s members.

Soon after assuming power following the 2008 general elections, the ANP openly challenged militants. This vociferous stance against militancy cost the party several leaders and activists in targeted attacks.

In the past two weeks, ANP leaders have narrowly dodged five attacks. Five sustained injuries while Mukarram Shah, ANP leader in Swat, was killed in a bomb explosion. ANP is also among the ‘secular’ parties Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has warned against conducting public rallies.

“ECP ignored the warnings issued by terrorist groups to the political parties,” said Khattak, questioning: “How can there be free and fair elections under such conditions?”

He also took pot shots at the caretaker government, criticising it for not creating a favourable environment for holding free and fair elections. He maintained ANP has doubts over the ECP’s impartiality and whether it would be able to remain neutral.

Khattak said ANP has written a letter to ECP requesting security for the party’s leadership and urged other parties to stand up against extremists who pose a challenge to them as well. He suggested concerned quarters meet observers from the European Union and inform them about ‘ground realities.”

Khattak also asked the ECP to reconsider the appointment of controversial officials, particularly the Peshawar capital police chief whose cousin is contesting the elections.

Also present at the conference, Provincial General Secretary Arbab Tahir, former information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and former sports minister Aqil Shah expressed reservations over the ECP’s decision to withdraw security cover from the party’s leadership.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2013.

“Keeping in mind the sensitive nature of the days immediately before and after the elections ,along with Election Day itself, QRFs will be ready to counter any untoward situations at polling stations throughout the province,” said caretaker Information Minister Mossarat Qadeem on Wednesday. The deployment of QRFs has already been discussed with the army, she added.

Briefing media personnel at the Officers Mess, Qadeem also said an all-parties conference (APC) which was earlier chaired by Chief Minister (CM) Justice (Retd) Tariq Pervez Khan was conducted in a congenial environment.

The APC was convened by the CM after the Yakatoot attack on Tuesday, in which 17 people were killed and 63 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in an attempt to target an Awami National Party (ANP) corner meeting.

Qadeem said every political party, including the ANP and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), attended the conference.

During the APC, it was decided the K-P government will provide funds to hire five security guards and every election candidate in the province. Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had allowed candidates to appoint five security guards from private agencies. However, the K-P government has instead decided to enlist the services of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) at its own expense. “We have decided the security personnel should be from the FC instead of private agencies,” Qadeem said.

Qadeem added the CM also requested political parties to mobilise their supporters 6-7 hours prior to any corner meetings, in order to ensure better security. The CM had said the parties should consider forming volunteer groups that would enforce security checks, such as identity conformation, during political gatherings. “Inform local police 48 hours before holding any public meeting so that better security arrangements can be made,” said Khan in the APC.

In light of suggestions given by participating parties during the conference, the CM also recommended participants refrain from hosting gatherings in closed or congested localities. Qadeem added PPP member Azam Afridi said the political parties would attempt to offer other security suggestions to the K-P government as well.

Qadeem said certain political parties expressed reservations over the temporary withdrawal of their security, but the CM assured them future security arrangements would be provided as soon as possible.

In an attempt to quell the deteriorating law and order situation in the tribal belt, the provincial government has also decided to station FC personnel along the border between K-P and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). “The deployment of FC personnel is to ensure better surveillance of Fata and the issue has been taken up with the president,” said the information minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.

In 2008, the ANP remained dominant in the five central districts, including Peshawar, Charsadda, Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera by winning six out of 13 National Assembly and 21 out of 36 provincial assembly seats. The PPP, on the other hand, proved it was a superior political force in Mardan and Nowshera. The party succeeded on four National and nine provincial assembly seats.

This time on Election Day, the ANP and PPP will have to face candidates from three powerful parties. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) all have the potential to seize power from the coalition partners. Additionally, the former ruling parties are now facing hurdles in the form of targeted militant attacks, making the situation markedly different this time round. In addition to facing security concerns, the PPP has lost prominent politicians, including Yaseen Khalil, Pervez Khattak, Iqbal Hussain Khattak, Muazzam Hoti and Iftikhar Mohmand.

In Peshawar, the ANP’s NA-1 candidate Ghulam Bilour, PK-1 candidate Ghazanfar Bilour, and PK-3 candidate Barrister Haroon Bilour may have a sizeable bank due to sympathy votes in the wake of Bashir Bilour’s assassination.

In NA-2, influential PPP candidate Arbab Alamgir Khalil will face ANP candidates Arbab Najibullah and Arbab Tahir on National and provincial assembly seats respectively. Both Najibullah and Tahir are popular, but their strength is weakened by former ANP MPA Atifur Rahman, who is contesting both seats as an independent. Rahman’s revolt against the ANP’s parliamentary board decision regarding ticket allocation seems to have benefited the PPP candidate.

Differences in ANP ranks may also help PPP ticket holder Noor Alam Khan, who is contesting from NA-3. But Khan must also face strong opponents including PML-N’s Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, JUI-F’s Haji Ghulam Ali and PTI’s Sajid Nawaz.

The ANP seems to have a strong chance in NA-4 with Arbab Ayub Jan, who, apart from briefly losing in 2002, has held his provincial assembly seat since 1985. Now contesting for the National Assembly, Jan will face Gulzar Khan of the PTI, Arbab Kamal of the JUI-F, Nasir Musazai of the PML-N and Sabir Hussain Awan of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

Charsadda, a previous stronghold of the ANP, may now prove difficult to win due to an alliance between the JUI-F and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP). In Charsadda, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan will contest against the JUI-F’s Maulana Gohar Shah, who is also supported by the QWP.

In Mardan, ex-federal minister Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti’s move to the PML-N has granted the party considerable force. Former chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the ANP candidate, will face the PML-N with Khawaja contesting for the national assembly seat and his son Umar Farooq Khan Hoti on the provincial assembly seat. While the PPP, JUI-F and ANP have resolved internal rifts amongst their ranks, fissures within the PML-N still remain in Mardan.

Like the past few elections, the atmosphere is favourable for the ANP in Swabi. Although Asfandyar Wali Khan was defeated on a National Assembly seat in 2008, his party still won a National Assembly and four provincial assembly seats. The JUI-F and QWP have also entered an alliance in Swabi. However, the JUI-F is still dealing with internal rifts in the district.

In Nowshera, the PPP faces an uphill battle with Engineer Tariq and Liaqat Ali Shabab trying to retain their respective National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. The PPP has also lost Daud Khattak, Hajj Mohammad and Shahid Khattak in the district. Here, ANP’s senior leader and former information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain is running for a provincial assembly seat, but is facing much difficulty in carrying out his election campaign because of security threats.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2013.

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) planning and development department’s researcher Shah Mehmud said government officials dodge every attempt at disclosing financial information.

“Even a circular notice is not shared with the public,” Mehmud said, speaking at a seminar on ‘Comparative budget analysis of Town-III (Peshawar).’ The study was conducted and compiled by the Center for Government and Public Accountability (CGPA), a non-governmental organisation.

Efforts to computerise official revenue data have also been resisted by officials fearing it may let some information slip away and may loosen their grip on certain people, including the patwaris, Mehmud added. Contingency measures are taken just in case, he explained.

“If you have no information, you cannot exercise your power and right,” Mehmud said, adding that a secretary of a government department can monitor any delays in official work if a computerised system is in place. This will also inform him of the efficiency of his subordinates.

“Without access to information, transparency will be difficult and we should have a culture of openness.”

CGPA Executive Coordinator Azra Nafees Yousafzai termed the budget making process as a purely  bureaucratic exercise without any meaningful participation by the public. “The budget concerns the common citizen and we need to share it with the public,” she said.

CGPA Program Coordinator Abid Hussain said when they requested budget documents for Town-III under Article 19-A of the Constitution, an official replied, “You are putting your hands in my pocket.” The official further told them that the budget books were not available.

Article 19-A provides the right to information

Instead of allocating more funds towards development, the Town-III administration utilises most of its budget paying salaries and allowances to its staff. In-house expenditures have steadily increased over the years and in fiscal year 2012-13, salaries estimated to around Rs293.8 million while development expenditure stood at Rs35.93 million.

In addition, Town-III employees have increased from 987 to 1,444 in just three years, Hussain added.

About Rs78.6 million was allocated to a contingency budget, but the details of this are not available in the budget books, he said.

The trend shows that the town administration’s own expenditures eats up most of the Town-III budget, which also indicates that development is a low priority for the administration, Hussain added.

The budget also includes funds for administration officials to perform Hajj.

“The budget making process of Town-III is extremely obscure and opaque,” Hussain said. This initial study of the town’s budget shows there seems to be no ground work or planning to meet the needs of the locality.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2013.

“Women’s turnout is feared to be low in the upcoming elections,” said Qamar Naseem, program coordinator at Blue Veins, a non-governmental organisation working to increase women’s political participation. The reasons for this dismal situation are worsening law and order along with a lack of separate polling stations for women, he added.

Naseem questioned how dependent women would be allowed to vote in a society where men fear for their lives. He claimed the socio-cultural context was not considered when arranging polling stations in the province.

Lack of facilities

Official sources have claimed that in addition to Torghar and Kohistan districts, women in Orakzai and Bajaur have also been deprived of separate polling stations. There are no female stations in the 116 set up in South Waziristan, and none in the Frontier Regions (FR) of Kohat and Lakki Marwat either.

“The verification of polling schemes will be sent by returning officers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for final approval,” said an official. However, no separate polling stations have been set up for women in the two FR districts and only eight of the total 231 stations in Karak have been allocated for women.

A scheme with one polling station each in Upper Dir and Chitral was suggested to returning officers. Currently, there is no arrangement for separate stations in Bajaur, Orakzai, North Waziristan, FR Peshawar, FR Lakki Marwat and FR DI Khan.

In Torghar, a total of 90 combined polling stations have been set up, while 120 have been established in Kohistan. Other areas with combined stations include Bajaur Agency with 224, Orakzai with 127, North Waziristan with 116, FR Peshawar with 23, FR Kohat with 50, and FR DI Khan with 34.

There are arrangements for only a single separate polling station each in the 288 established in Upper Dir, 258 in Chitral, and 12 in FR Bannu.

Cultural fetters

To ensure women voters participated in the polls, a mandatory 10% women voter turnout condition was suggested by the ECP for every station. However, this was unanimously rejected by political parties. “The ECP’s suggestion was a step in the right direction, but political parties’ rejection points to the fact that women are not taken seriously as agents of change,” said Naseem.

“Pakistan ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2010 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1996. These legal agreements obligate the government, including the ECP, to take all measures necessary to ensure a woman’s right to vote is implemented,” said Blue Veins President Shaheen Quresh.

Despite this, however, the tribal regions remain conservative and continue to follow customs and traditions that restrict women from participating in public life, especially politics.

“Women exclude themselves from participating in politics because of the oppressive culture, which has convinced them that politics and leadership are for men. We are working to promote community-level education for women on public issues to increase their participation in the political process,” added Quresh.

Meanwhile, the security situation in the province has compelled the K-P caretaker government to set up a quick response force to guard polling stations. This could, however, be used as an excuse to keep women voters away under the garb of security concerns.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2013.

PESHAWAR: In addition to reducing election activities of the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the increase in attacks on political parties in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has also become a source of worry for other political parties in the region.

Stalwarts of the former coalition partners have been forced to suspend election campaigns or limit their political activities during the countdown to Election Day. The developing scenario has also raised fears of low voter turnout as the polls approach.

The month of April witnessed escalating election-related attacks, primarily against the ANP, in almost every big city of K-P, including Peshawar, Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera, Karak, Kohat, Bannu as well as the southernmost district of DI Khan.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has singled out the ANP, PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as its targets.

However, almost every political party is dealing with security concerns for its workers, activists and leaders particularly when they gather in large numbers or rally openly. The militants’ strategy to deal with the election’s momentum has halted other parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Qaumi Watan Party and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from reaching the full potential of their campaigning capabilities.

So far, around 22 sabotage acts have been carried out on the ANP, PPP and independents candidates, killing 55 and injuring over 150 others.

ANP’s stalwart Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Haroon Bilour survived a suicide attack in Peshawar. Life attempts have also been made on several other ANP leaders.

PPP candidates have also dealt with assaults with Zulfikar Afghani, a PPP candidate from NA-1 Peshawar-1, facing a hand grenade attack on his house. Similarly, MQM candidates are not even in a position to display party flags and posters, even though the party has fielded candidates on both the national and provincial assemblies.

The consequences of the unrelenting attacks have resulted in party leaders ordering the closure of offices. Political activities including corner meetings have also been halted. The nature of election activities has changed to employ alternate means to reach supporters such as Skype. A comparatively safe and less risky option, which the ANP candidates are resorting to, is to embark on door-to-door campaigns.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2013.