No major incidents of violence or disruption were reported in what was the first electoral contest at the grassroots level between arch political rivals since the 2018 general elections. However, scuffle was reported in Multan at ladies polling station. Polling started at 8am and continued without any break till 5pm.The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were well ahead in their respective strongholds of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Punjab, according to unofficial results of 191 wards of the 35 out of 39 cantonment boards, where elections were held on Sunday.
While the ruling PTI wiped out the PML-N in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by winning 16 of the 33 wards of nine cantonment boards, it was lagging far behind in the Punjab with 25 seats against 47 secured by the PML-N.
Unofficial results of 191out of 205 wards, where polling was held to elect the general members of the cantonment boards, show the PTI leading with 57 seats, followed by the PML-N with 54 seats and independent candidates emerging victorious on 43 seats.
In Multan cantonment, independent candidates won nine of the 10 seats whereas the remaining one was clinched by the PML-N. Similarly, in Okara cantonment, independent candidates won four of the five seats. However, in Bahawalpur cantonment, the PML-N got three and PTI two seats.According to unofficial result: Cantonment Board Multan Ward No.1- Rana Muhammad Ashraf (1159),Ward No.2' Ghulam Jilani (158),Ward No.3- Akhtar Rasul of PML-N (321),Ward No.4, Sheikh Waheed(415), Ward No.5 Malik Bilal (1229), Ward No.6 Sana Akbar (647), Ward No.7 Shamshad Ali Ansari (396),Ward No.8, Yaquob Nasir, Ward No.9 Muhammad Sadiq and Ward No.10 Khurshid Ahmed Khan advocate former Registrar BZU.
Cantonment Board Sialkot : Two seat annexed by PTI and three by PML-N candidates. Ward No.1 Sheikh Mohsin Atiq (1863) ,Ward No.2 Saeed Ahmed (1946) Ward No.3 Sheikh Umar Arashad (732), Ward No.4 Umar Jamil (798),and Ward No.5 Atif Munir (1330).
Sindh
In Sindh, the PTI and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won 14 seats each. The PTI, however, became the single largest party in the cantonments of Karachi by winning 14 of the 42 general seats.
According to unofficial and unconfirmed results of the cantonment board elections in Sindh, the PTI and the PPP won 14 seats each, followed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement with 10 seats, including seven in Hyderabad, independent candidates secured seven seats, while the Jamaat-i-Islami grabbed five seats and the PML-N won three seats.
The outlawed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan that had fielded as many as 84 candidates in cantonment boards elections, failed to win even a single seat from across the country.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
According to unofficial results of all the 33 wards of nine cantonment boards in KP, the PTI emerged victorious with 16 seats, followed by eight independents, whereas the PML-N bagged all four seats in its Hazara stronghold. The PPP and the ANP were successful in three and two wards of cantonments in KP, respectively.
In Lahore cantonment, the PML-N bagged 15 of 19 wards. In Sialkot, the PML-N bagged three while PTI won two seats. In Jhelum, the PTI bagged two seats. Polling in Ward 7 of Lahore cantonment was suspended after the demise of a candidate.
In Gujranwala, the PTI bagged six seats while the PML-N and independents won two each. In Sargodha, independents bagged five wards whereas the PTI and PML-N managed to win three and two seats, respectively. In Taxila cantonment, the PML-N won three seats and the PTI two seats. In Wah Cantt, the PML-N bagged eight seats and PTI two seats.
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif said the people had expressed their confidence in the PML-N in the cantonment polls. “We assure the masses that we will not disappoint them and work hard to resolve their problems,” he said.
In Balochistan, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) won three seats of the seven seats, whereas the PTI remained successful in two wards. Two other seats were clinched by the independent candidates.
Zulqernain Tahir from Lahore, Aamir Yasin from Rawalpindi, Muhammad Ashfaq from Peshawar, Saleem Shahid from Quetta, Mohammad Hussain Khan from Hyderabad and Azfar-ul-Ashfaque from Karachi also contributed to the report.
More than 1,500 candidates fielded by all leading political parties are vying for the 206 seats, but the main battle was expected among the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), PML-N and PPP, media reported.
Nationalist and religious parties, including the banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), are also in the field with a good number of candidates in all the four provinces. Interestingly, all the parties participated in the elections without forming any alliance.
There are 219 wards in 42 cantonment boards all over the country, but no polling was scheduled in any of the nine wards of Kamra, Cherat and Murree Gallies cantonments, where either the candidates have been elected unopposed or polling has been postponed. Besides, there were no elections in four other wards of various cantonment boards where candidates have already returned unopposed.
Punjab
Polling remained largely peaceful in cantonments across Punjab, with the provincial election commissioner expressing satisfaction over voting and security arrangements.
Authorities decided not to extend the polling time, but voters present inside polling stations were allowed to cast their votes beyond 5pm.
In Multan, a clash broke out between some persons at ward no. 4 but police quickly took control of the situation. The people involved in the fighting were expelled from the polling station and voting resumed.
Meanwhile, in Walton Cantonment outside Lahore, polling was postponed in ward no. 7 due to the death of an independent candidate, Sadaqat Mehmood Butt.
Sindh
Although no major untoward incidents were reported in Sindh, the PPP sent a number of letters to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) complaining about lawmakers — mostly from the PTI — visiting polling stations in Karachi and the party's polling agents not being allowed to enter.
In another letter, PPP's Taj Haider expressed concern over "alarming reports" according to which he said the party's opponents had planned to rig the election in three wards of Cantonment Board Clifton.
Meanwhile, the district returning officer for Karachi's Faisal Cantonment ordered law enforcement officials to expel PTI MNA Muhammad Akram Cheema from the constituency till the end of polling for visiting the constituency and "creating problems [for] voters".
KP
The voting process took place smoothly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well and no major violence was reported.
KP Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari told media that counterfeit polling material had been found in the pockets of some people in Nowshera who were arrested and referred for legal action.
The provincial election commissioner, Sharifullah, said the situation was under control and the voting process remained unhindered across KP.
He said no MPA or minister was allowed to visit any polling station, adding that he was looking into the reports of a female lawmaker visiting a polling station.
Balochistan
In Balochistan, polling continued uninterrupted between 8am and 5pm in the Quetta, Zhob and Loralai cantonment boards.
At a polling station in Quetta, supporters of the PTI and Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) came to blows after a woman was barred from voting. At least one man was injured in the clash and was shifted to hospital. Police and Frontier Corps personnel dispersed the two groups.
Arrangements
The ECP on Saturday announced that it had completed all the necessary arrangements for the cantonment elections.
The regulator also issued separate codes of conduct for personnel of law enforcement agencies, independent election observers and media persons for the polling day.
A total of 1,513 candidates contested the polls to win general member seats in 206 wards of the cantonment boards. There are 878 candidates in 112 wards of 19 cantonments in Punjab; 418 in 53 wards of eight cantonments in Sindh; 170 candidates in 33 wards of nine cantonments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 47 candidates are in the field in eight wards of three cantonments in Balochistan.
The PTI fielded the highest number of 178 candidates in all the four provinces, followed by the PML-N and the PPP, which are in the electoral race with 140 and 112 candidates, respectively. The PML-N, however, did not nominate any candidate in Balochistan.
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) is at number four with 105 candidates contesting the elections in the four provinces.
The urban Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) also fielded 41 and 33 candidates, respectively, in the cantonment boards located in Karachi and Hyderabad.
The TLP, which was banned by the government under the Anti-Terrorism Act some five months back, surprised many by fielding 84 candidates in 17 cantonments in three provinces.
2.1m voters registered
In all the 42 cantonments, 2,197,441 voters (1,154,551 men and 1,043,190 women) are registered. According to the ECP, 5,080 polling booths were set up in 1,644 polling stations.
The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) is also monitoring the cantonment board elections for the first time with the deployment of 74 male and 46 female observers. According to an official announcement by Fafen, these 120 observers will monitor the voting and counting processes at around 460 polling stations, almost 30 per cent of the total polling stations. Fafen will release its observation report on September 15 to media and other stakeholders.
The cantonments where elections are being held are Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Wah, Taxila, Murree, Attock, Sanjwal, Jhelum, Mangla, Sargodha, Shorkot, Gujranwala, Kharian, Sialkot, Lahore, Walton, Okara, Multan and Bahawalpur (Punjab); Hyderabad, Karachi, Clifton, Malir, Faisal, Korangi Creek, Manora and Panno Aqil (Sindh); Peshawar, Risalpur, Nowshera, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, D.I. Khan, Abbottabad and Havelian (KP); and Quetta, Zhob and Loralai (Balochistan).
