Delawar Jan
DIR: Khalid Iqbal has
always seen Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) clashed for
seats in elections in Upper Dir. Now he is fed-up with both of them and wants
to vote for a ‘third party’ in the upcoming elections.
His desire to look for
a new face and a new party stems from his belief that both the parties have
failed to serve people selflessly, and they would do no different if voted to
power again. His view is not an isolated one. A feeling of ‘let’s try a third
party’ is rising in the people, who were mostly represented by leaders from
these parties. JI was part of the ruling coalition in 2002-2007 government and
PPP in 2008-2013 in Khyber Pakhtukhwa but both have disappointed the
electorate.
“[Fomer federal
minister] Najmuddin Khan failed to solve our problems. At least, he should have
built the Chakdarra-Dir Road,” he complained. Almost all the residents of Dir
who were interviewed for this story brought up the issue of the dilapidated
road and criticised Najmuddin Khan for failing to construct it. It appears to
become the major electoral issue in Upper Dir. The 115-kilometre Chakdarra-Dir
portion of the N-45 has all the characteristics of a bad road—unpaved portions,
bumps, uneven surface and countless deep ditches that don’t allow vehicles to
pick up speed. The Wari-Dir portion is so narrow, besides being dilapidated,
that two vehicles cannot pass.
Tariqullah is no
different than Najmuddin. “We need a third party and, therefore, I will vote
for Naveed Anjum,” Khalid said. Naveed Anjum is Awami National Party’s young district
president and candidate for PK-93 Upper Dir-I.
Interestingly, most of
the people find the third force in ANP, the party that has never figured a
serious competitor in elections in Upper Dir. As elsewhere in the province, the
ANP may lose some support due to incumbency factor, the party has surprisingly gained
support here. Naveed Anjum has carried out development projects in the district
despite that he was not an elected representative, residents said. They hope he
could perform well, if voted to power.
Also, for the first
time, other political parties have fielded strong candidates in Upper Dir that present
a serious challenge to the monopoly of PPP and JI. Many predict upsets in the
upcoming elections because of the options available and people’s disillusion
with the PPP and JI.
On PK-91, Najmuddin’s
step-brother Inamullah Khan is contesting election on JUI-F ticket. The JUI-F
has also increased its vote bank in the district, but it will need to produce
unflagging effort to win election on this seat. However, Inamullah will divide
the family vote that may cause problems to PPP.
Muhammad Nisar Khan has
filed nomination papers on PML-N ticket from this constituency. Najmuddin’s
late father Amanullah Khan consecutively won his provincial assembly seat for
23 years, but people say it was not because of PML-N’s support. The Nawaz Sharif-led
party has never secured this seat since 1990.
Nisar Khan is also
being considered a candidate who can surprise people but some people opined
otherwise. “Nisar is a weak candidate, as I see it. Though his family has
support, PML-N has negligible vote bank in this constituency,” said a resident,
Muhammad Amin.
The PPP has fielded a
young but weak candidate in PK-91, and many interviewers rated him ‘out of the
contest.’ Shakirullah is Najmuddin’s son but even staunch PPP supporters are
unwilling to vote for him. “I will not vote for Najmuddin and Shakirullah,
though my father who is a diehard PPP supporter could punish me for it,”
Muhammad Amin said. “We would have forgiven his other mistakes, had he
constructed the Chakdarra-Dir Road,” he added, indicating that he was rejecting
him for his poor performance. He has also decided to vote for a ‘third party.’
“Shakir is not in the
run for win,” opined another resident, Said Hameed Jan, whose family has also
been a staunch backer of the PPP. His choice is also Naveed Anjum. For
Nizamuddin, PPP was a total disappointment, nationally and locally. “I have
left the PPP,” said the young man, whose shop had two fluttering black-and-white-striped flags of JUI-F.
Some people are
unwilling to listen to any excuse from Najmuddin, who was elected on both NA-33
and PK-91 in 2008. “He completed his full five-year term. And he has no excuse
because his party was in power in the centre and in the province,” said
Muhammad Ishaq, who was unhappy with him for failing to carry out development
projects. Najmuddin has been claiming to have spent ‘billions of rupees’ on
development projects in Upper Dir, but the development hardly exists on the
ground.
JI is also plagued by
some differences but its nominee Inayatullah, former provincial health
minister, is still being viewed the strongest candidate. People in Dir believe
JI voters have little tendency to vote against the party which gives edge to
Inayatullah over others.
Sahibzada family that
has historically associated with JI has also divided. Former union council
nazim Sahibzada Sanaullah has joined PPP and got ticket on PK-93 Upper Dir-III.
It has created serious challenge to JI’s Sahibzada Tariqullah, who is
contesting against Najmuddin on NA-33. On National Assembly seat, Tariqullah may
lose some support due to Sanaullah factor while Najmuddin is facing disaffected
PPP voters.
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