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After Punjab, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided not to conduct polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, shifting the poll dates to October, Geo News reported local media reports.
Initially slated to take place on April 30, the poll was unexpectedly moved by the electoral commission on Wednesday, October 8. Experts believe that this decision means that the KP elections will now take place alongside those for other provincial legislatures and the National Assembly. Moreover, Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will appeal the ECP ruling to the Supreme Court. The reason behind the postponement of the polls in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is said to be the deteriorating law and security of the area. The decision was made after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali held talks with the Election Commission more than once and decided to not conduct polls before October 8, Geo News reported. The official stated that practically all political parties may not be particularly interested in the KP elections due to the security situation, since the political stakeholders are in Punjab while citing media reports and the governor's letter. Recently, in a brief to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief secretary and inspector general of police has said that they cannot guarantee peace amid a surge in terrorism in the region, Geo News reported. The briefing was given by the inspector general to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Friday, during the upcoming elections as a result of the pathetic law and order situation in KP, and the economic crunch. The police chief estimated that the province witnessed 495 terror attacks in total in 2022, while there have already been 118 occurrences this year that have resulted in 100 fatalities and 275 injuries, Geo News reported. Concerns about the region's security situation have grown significantly as a result of the uptick in terrorist activity. He claimed that North Waziristan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Tank, and Dera Ismail Khan were among the southern regions where the state of law and order was insufficient for elections, according to Geo News, and further added that it was also difficult to organise elections in the newly combined districts of the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). (ANI)
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