Aamir Latif
21 July 2019•Update: 22 July 2019
KARACHI, Pakistan
Landmark polls in the troubled tribal belt of Pakistan on Saturday -- following its merger with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province -- saw independent and the ruling party candidates winning, the election authority said Sunday.
According to unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), independent candidates won six out of a total of 16 constituencies in the seven tribal districts -- followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which grabbed five seats.
Religious parties Jamiat Ulema Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami bagged two and one seats, respectively.
Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party could win only one seat.
The main opposition parties, center-right Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and center-left Pakistan Peoples Party could not attain even a single seat.
The results for two constituencies are still pending, the ECP said.
The highest voting ratio was reported from Kurram district (41%), whereas the lowest was recorded in Khyber district (17%).
Supporters of the winning candidates took to the streets to celebrate their victory amid fireworks and drum-beating.
Polling by and large remained peaceful with some sporadic incidents of clashes reported.
Formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) -- a conglomerate of seven semi-autonomous regions -- witnessed the first-ever polls after being merged with the adjoining Khyber Pakhtunkhawa in line with a constitutional amendment by the parliament last year. The merger aims to make widespread judicial reforms in the region which was previously governed by tribal laws.
Previously, the residents of the seven tribal agencies -- now districts -- were allowed to take part only in the National Assembly polls.
According to the ECP, more than 2.8 million registered voters -- 1.7 million men and 1.13 million women -- were eligible to vote to elect 16 members of the provincial assembly.
