Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Pakistan’s government parties claimed early wins while Opposition groups cried foul as unofficial results poured in on Saturday following the first round of Pakistan’s local elections.At least 16 people were killed and hundreds injured in violence during Thursday’s voting.
Punjab’s Chief Minister, Pervaiz Elahi, said the ruling, Musharraf-backed Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), had scored a landslide in the most populous of Pakistan’s four provinces. ‘‘Eighty per cent of the winners are candidates supported by us,” Elahi said.
In southern Sindh province, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a junior partner in government, was sure of wresting Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, from Islamist parties.
‘‘We have won in 110 of Karachi’s 178 union councils,’’ said Kunwar Khalid Yunus, a central leader of the MQM .
In the two tribal-dominated provinces of Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier, there were signs that conservative Islamist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s grip on power was slipping.
The PML-Q was leading in Baluchistan, while in the NWFP the MMA’s dominance has been cut by the Awami National Party.
Another 56 districts will be contested on August 25.
—Reuters
