KP LG polls second phase to take place on March 27: ECP

• ECP announces schedule for second phase of KP LG elections.
• Second phase of LG elections to take place in 17 districts.
• Districts include Abbottabad, Mansehra, Batagram, North Waziristan, others.

ISLAMABAD: The second phase of the local government (LG) elections in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will take place on March 27, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced Thursday, The News reported.

As per the announced schedule, returning officers will issue public notice to invite nomination papers on February 4, which will be followed by filing of nomination papers from Feb 7-11. The list of nominated candidates will be released next day.

Returning officers will conduct scrutiny of nomination papers for three days — Feb 14-16 — while filing of appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers will be from Feb 17-19. 

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The last date for deciding appeals by the appellate tribunal is Feb 22, while they can start their work from February 17, barring Sunday.

The revised list of candidates will be published on Feb 23, whereas the last date for withdrawal of candidate and publication of revised list is fixed for Feb 25. 

Contesting candidates will then be allotted election symbols and the publication of their final list will be issued on Feb 28.

During the second phase, local government elections will be held in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Batagram, Torghar, Kohistan Upper and Kohistan Lower, Kolai Palas Kohistan, Swat, Malakand, Shangla, Lower Dir, Chitral Lower and Chitral Upper, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

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During the first phase of the local body elections held last month, PTI suffered a major blow as, Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI candidates won three major mayoral elections in Peshwar, Kohat, and Bannu, while an ANP was able to win the mayor's seat in Mardan.

After the setback, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan submitted a report to Prime Minister Imran Khan, which mentioned "traditional politics and hereditary issues" as reasons behind the defeat.

The report added that the distribution of party tickets was also a reason behind PTI’s failure.

The premier, during the meeting with the chief minister in Islamabad, said tickets would not be awarded on the basis of favouritism and bribery in future as PTI faced a major setback in the KP local body polls due to "incompetent" people.