‘Unexpected alliance’ sweeps LG polls in Balochistan's three districts

• LAI claims 26 seats in Hub.
• Pishin taken over by JUI-F.
• PkMAP and ANP also win seats in Pishin.

The polling process of local body elections has been completed across Balochistan’s three districts — Hub, Lasbela and Pishin.

In district Hub and Lasbela, the contest took place between the Lasbela Awami Ittehad (LAI) and Jam Group where 365 candidates from Lasbela and 427 candidates from Hub participated in the polls.

The biggest clash of local government elections 2022 in Balochistan took place in Hub and Lasbela between LAI and Jam Group. The LAI’s Bhootani group comprised the Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat-Ulema Islam Fazl group (JIU-F), and Balochistan National Party (Mengal), while the Jam Group allied with the National Party.

As per unconfirmed and unofficial results, among the 43 wards in the Hub Municipal Corporation, 26 were claimed by LAI and the Jam group was successful in winning nine wards. Meanwhile, five candidates of the National Party won and two seats went to independents.

LAI was the winner across all nine wards of the Municipal Committee Gadani. Among Winder Municipal Committee’s 14 wards, eight were claimed by the Jam group, while five seats were won by LAI and one went to an independent candidate.

Among the nine wards of the Municipal Committee Dureji, seven went to LAI, while the National Party and an independent candidate claimed one each.

Among the 12 union councils of Hub, 11 were bagged by LAI and one seat went to the Jam group. Out of the 11 wards of the Municipal Committee Bela, eight were won by the Jam group, while three were claimed by the LAI.

The Uthal Municipal Committee had 16 total wards of which 14 went to the Jam group, while the LAI could only win two seats. The Jam group won 19 of Lasbela’s 20 union councils, while one went to LAI.

In the Haramzai Municipal Committee of Balochistan’s Pishin district, the JUI-F won the polls with the party taking away seven seats, while the Awami National Party and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) won three seats each, and one independent candidate also remained victorious. As a result of the elections, its workers celebrated the party’s victory while the losing candidates turned pale in gr

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates stood across four wards but remained unsuccessful. It was learnt that seat adjustment took place between the ANP and the JUI-F two days ahead of the local body polls in the province. Meanwhile, an alliance was formed between the PkMAP, the PPP’s Al-Sadaat group, and independent candidates. Some candidates did not approve of this unexpected alliance exposing internal conflicts among parties.

In the leadership of JUI-F‘s Haramzai chief, party workers hurled accusations of alleged rigging against their own member provincial assembly Syed Azizullah Agha. They recovered hundreds of his relatives’ fake identity cards showing them to the media. The protest carried on for the entire night.

Among Haramzai’s 10,249 registered voters, 5,812 were male while 4,437 were female. Out of its total 14 wards, PkMAP’s Syed Abdul Qahar and Syed Hidayatullah were elected unopposed as general councillors on two wards — 11 and 12. The PkMAP, ANP and JUI-F are political rivals here.