Source Express Tribune
NA-47, comprising six Frontier Regions (FRs), is one of the most interesting constituencies of the National Assembly.
With FR Peshawar, FR Kohat (Darra Adam Khel), FR Bannu, FR Lakki Marwat, FR DI Khan and FR Tank all falling within its realms, it is also perhaps the most geographically scattered constituency.
FR Lakki Marwat touches Balochistan, while FR Peshawar reaches Nizampur.
Kohat is the largest Frontier region as far as the number of votes, estimated at around 42,000, is concerned. It is followed by FR Peshawar, with 23,000 votes, FR DI Khan with 18,000 votes, FR Tank with 21,000 votes, and FR Bannu and FR Lakki Marwat with 9,000 votes each. The number of total registered voters in these areas is around 118,000.
Women are not allowed to vote in four of the FR regions – Lakki, Bannu, Tank and DI Khan. Fortunately, women will be able to make trips to the ballot box in both FR Kohat and Peshawar, owing to higher literary rates in these areas.
The most dangerous FR is undoubtedly Tank, which brims with militancy issues. Its town Jandola is considered a hub for militants, located right next to the Waziristan region.
Similarly, FR Kohat is not only the birthplace of the Darra Adam Khel chapter of the Tehreek-i-Taliban, but also its pro-government offshoot, the Momin group. Additionally, FR Peshawar is also ripe with instances of terrorism. Only recently, militants kidnapped and killed 21 Levies personnel there.
A tribal elder from Darra Adam Khel, Malik Hassan Gul, said it was very difficult to conduct election campaigns in many of these far-flung areas. He argued that presence of militants, especially in FR Tank, turned these areas into no-go zones, which is why the army should be deployed during the polling.
“[Even] under normal circumstances, several days are required to reach voters in these areas. However, with the worsening law and order situation, this task has become very difficult for candidates,” he said, adding that the situation was comparatively better in parts like FR Peshawar.
Conversely, Haji Baaz Gul Afridi, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate for NA-47, said that militants had not interfered with polling in the past and the situation was expected to remain the same during the forthcoming elections.
“I have been visiting these areas and we have had no problem so far,” he said. “However, precautionary steps should be taken to make the security foolproof.”
He added that a negative issue affecting candidates was that many local residents have abandoned their ancestral towns due to the law and order situation. These people are now spread across the country.
An independent candidate from FR Peshawar, Malik Daud Khan Afridi, said that at least 25 people had submitted nomination papers. He also said it was unfortunate that the returning officer was now stationed in FR Bannu, whereas in the past, the office of the returning officer was in Kohat city, convenient for most people.
Like Haji Baaz, Malik was also optimistic about the security situation during electioneering.
“The governor wrote a letter to the political administrations of Fata to meet the candidates and representatives of political parties on a monthly basis. This way, security could be provided in the case of public rallies,” he said.
And yet, the electioneering has not started, he said.
“Despite the fact that political parties are allowed to work in Fata, the political tradition is not very strong. Due to this, the political parties are searching for influential and stable candidates to issue them party tickets,” he said. “Once their nomination papers are approved by the election commission, the candidates will kick-start the campaigns.”
According to Malik, this time around, the system has certainly become more refined.
“In the past, there were more voters in the FRs. Now, the commission has banned the dual votes system, so the overall number of votes has decreased. This is a welcome development as it saves from double-counting and makes the voting more efficient,” he said.
Furthermore, he claimed that the Army had been deployed in most of the FRs, so the security situation was no longer a big concern.
In this vein, an official in FR Peshawar also said security was not a real challenge. He remained confident that the deployment of the Army and the paramilitary forces would keep the overall situation in these regions very similar to that of the rest of Pakistan.
