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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said democracy has strengthened with the local government elections in Balochistan.
In a tweet on social media platform Twitter, the prime minister said, “With LG elections in Balochistan, democracy stands strengthened.”
“People’s active participation in polls shows their trust in state institutions to provide security & ensure smooth conduct of polls. I admire law enforcement agencies for their role,” he added.
With LG elections in Balochistan, democracy stands strengthened. People’s active participation in polls shows their trust in state institutions to provide security & ensure smooth conduct of polls. I admire law enforcement agencies for their role. Pakistan Zindabad
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 29, 2022
LG polls
Balochistan held local government (LG) elections held on Sunday in 32 districts, except Quetta and Lasbela, for the first time in nine years.
As per unofficial and initial results, independent candidates are leading and have won 148 seats. They are followed by Jamiat Ulema-e -Islam (JUI) securing 98 seats and the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) bagged 71 seats.
The Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) won 39 seats, National Party (NP) secured 26 seats, Balochistan National Party (Mengal) bagged 18 seats while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged 10 and six seats respectively.
The polling, which started at 8am, continued till 5pm without any interruption with the process largely remained smooth and peaceful.
One person was killed during an exchange of fire between two rival groups in the Noshki district. Over three dozen people sustained injuries in clashes between rival groups in various parts of the province.
Over 17,000 candidates were contesting the local bodies’ elections across the province. Strict security measures were in place in all 32 districts of Balochistan to maintain law and order situation.
The provincial government had declared over 2,000 polling stations sensitive. Besides levies and police, the authorities had also deployed the frontier corps to avoid any untoward incident. Around 1,584 councilors have been elected unopposed.
