All the major political parties and independent candidates are running to acquire maximum seats of the National Assembly and Provincial Assembly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan despite the security challenges. Yet another milestone is being completed as the situation is under control with some scattered incidents by the terrorist outfits at this important phase of the election campaign.
Hundreds of candidates are running against 45 general seats of the National Assembly and 115 seats of the Provincial Assembly in the general elections being held on February 08 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Balochistan, elections for 16 general seats for the National Assembly and 51 seats for the Provincial Assembly are also being held.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces have been facing serious security threats from multiple terrorist outfits. It was feared that there could be no or violent elections in KP and Balochistan, however, it was made possible in a peaceful way due to extra security measures and cooperation by the political parties.
It was a challenge to hold fair and free polls in a peaceful environment in KP and Balochistan, where the terrorist outfits had different plans to execute and disrupt the election campaign.
Due to the proper security arrangements and conducting timely intelligence operations, several high-level planned attacks were foiled, and the planners and executors of the attacks were arrested. These efforts also help to get maximum information about the other terrorist plans.
A gang of terrorists were busted in the outskirts of Peshawar, who revealed during interrogation that they were planning to target senior leaders of the KP. More substantial information was revealed that had also helped to avert any terrorist attacks during the election campaigns.
The election campaign remained peaceful, with some scattered incidents of terrorism. Some areas have been declared as sensitive, like the troubled tribal district of Bajaur and the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which have witnessed terrorist incidents as compared to other districts. However, the focus is not only on the security of these districts but security measures will be alike for other districts of KP.
The terrorist outfits have attempted and have been trying to derail the political process by carrying out attacks on politicians, but they have not succeeded in their nefarious designs. There is a real security threat, but the threat is being countered by the security forces. People are aware of the situation, and want to have political stability in the country. High hopes have been attached to the political process to resolve all issues; political, security and economic.
One cannot rule out such attacks by the terrorists in parts of the country where the security forces have been fighting them. There was an unprecedented rise in the attacks on the security forces, government installations and public places during the last two years.
The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Islamic State of Khorasan Province or DAESH Khorasan, Baloch Liberation Army and Balochistan Liberation Front and some other militant groups have been found in most of the terrorist attacks. Some of the groups have support from across the border. Pakistan has taken up the issue of cross-border attacks with the Afghan Taliban and Iranian authorities to check these movements.
However, there are no more such areas, which could be called no-go-areas in Pakistan. The terrorists are carrying out attacks and running, but most of the attackers have been killed by the security forces in retaliation. Their aim is to destabilize the country politically, but with the support of the people, the terrorists have no place to hide. There may be some ‘sympathizers’ of the terrorist outfits, but they are also spotted in the intelligence based operations by the armed forces.
The terrorist threat has some negative impact on the campaign for the elections in both the said provinces, where strict security protocols were advised to the candidates to avoid any ugly terrorist attack. Following the protocols or SoPs by the political parties backed and independent candidates, the election campaign is peaceful.
The candidates were advised by the security agencies to avoid holding big rallies and meetings, but restrict the election-related gathering to indoor within the four walls. The candidates are facing difficulties to reach out to their voters easily, however, in unusual circumstances, such steps are needed to have avoided untoward incidents.
The candidates have been moving from door-to-door and street-to-street to convince the voters for the elections. In today’s digital era, the political parties and candidates could effectively use the digital space and social media platforms to reach out to maximum people. Though, this is possible in urban or semi-urban areas, and the candidates have to rely mainly on the door-to-door campaign in the rural or remote districts of Balochistan and KP.
The election for 266 general seats across the country is left with less than a week as all is set for February 08 to hold fair, free and peaceful elections. The focus is now shifting from campaign to election day. The caretaker government has given approval to deploy thousands of security forces in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to ensure peaceful polls.
Despite having serious security threats this time, the situation is under control as compared with the 2013 and 2018 elections. There have been some scattered terrorist incidents, but not on the large scale as happened in the past elections. However, this does not mean the threat is over, and any negligence may fear to give a chance to such elements to succeed in their ill-plans.
