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It apears that after Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also witness a delay in the polls as the Governor of the province Haji Ghulam Ali urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the general elections in October, in the wake of the rise in terror activities, Geo News reported.
According to the Geo News, in the letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, the Governor said that it would be in the "best public interest as well as in the interest of the state" if the election will take place on October 8 instead of the previous date, which he had suggested earlier on May 28. It is pertinent to mention that the Punjab province election date is also October 8. The elections were earlier scheduled to be held on April 30, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. According to details, the ECP withdrew the Punjab Election Program notification issued on March 8 and decided to postpone the Punjab election and announced October 8 as the new date for elections in Punjab, as per ARY News. According to ECP spokesman, President Arif Alvi has also been informed about the postponement of elections in Punjab, adding that the new election schedule will be released soon. The governor noted that recently, a fresh wave of terrorist activities has been taking place in the northwestern province on a daily basis. He said a cross-border fire in North Waziristan, an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on an army vehicle in Kohat, heavy exchange of fire with terrorists in South Waziristan on March 15, and unidentified terrorists firing on Khyber's Bara Police Station on March 19 are enough to depict that the terror attack has increased in the province, according to Geo News. Citing further incidents, he said a terrorist attack took on a police station in DI Khan followed by a search operation by the army, resulting in the martyrdom of three army soldiers on the night between March 21 and 22. Also, he said, on March 21, a convoy was ambushed in South Waziristan which resulted in the martyrdom of Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and injuries to seven other personnel. The governor, in the letter, further said that since the ECP has postponed the election date for the general elections of Punjab to October 8, it is also suggested that the same date should be appointed as the election day for the general elections in KP. It is pertinent to mention here, the government has welcomed the election commission's decision to postpone the polls till October, but the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has vehemently rejected it and announced challenging it in the Supreme Court, reported Geo News. (ANI)
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