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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Militants to influence elections in FATA' |
| 2007-11-29 |
| The role of militant organisations in the Tribal Areas will seriously affect the 2008 elections, tribal elders and candidates said on Wednesday. Twelve parliamentarians will be elected to the National Assembly from seven tribal districts and one frontier region constituency. In the 2002 elections, the Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) won seven seats from Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, South and North Waziristan agencies. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), sans Kurram and Orakzai agencies, are swayed by pro-Taliban militants, and the government has deployed around 90,000 troops to fight the militancy. “You can imagine how I am canvassing while sitting in my home because I cannot go out due to security concerns,” Shahbuddin Khan, a former nationalist leader and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) candidate for NA-44 Bajaur, told Daily Times via phone. “Jihadi elements will certainly influence my election result.” Conducive environment: “I think Islamists will win maximum seats as the environment is conducive for their victory,” former member of the National Assembly (MNA) and Pakistan People’s Party Khyber Agency leader Malik Waris Khan said. A tribal elder said that candidates having the blessings of militant commanders could easily win the polls. “People will vote for the favourite candidates of Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh,” Asad Afridi, resident of Landikotal in Khyber Agency, told Daily Times. Mangal has imposed his own code of conduct for candidates in Khyber Agency, banning hoisting of party flags and taking out of processions. No woman candidate has filed her nomination papers from any tribal district. Militant commanders have not publicly opposed the elections, but moderate candidates fear that commanders would influence their poll results if they opposed Talibanisation during electioneering. “Militants will ensure that Taliban-sympathising candidates win the elections,” a candidate from NA-41 (South Waziristan) told Daily Times, asking not to be named. Former FATA security chief Brig (r) Mehmood Shah said, “The Taliban will not disturb the polls, rather they will help like-minded candidates to win.” Maulana Bashir Ahmed, cousin of Taliban Bajaur chief Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, has filed nomination papers for NA-43 (Bajaur). The Taliban chief told a gathering on October 30 that he was not against the polls. “The Taliban need political support in parliament. One case is of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has been criticising military operations against the Taliban on various occasions. The JUI-F is the political face of Islamic militancy,” Shah said. |
| Posted by:Fred |