South Waziristan has been historically kept deprived of competent representation in the higher echelon of power. It's mainly because of the wide range of rigging tactics by people belonging to a certain religious political party. Besides, the alleged state-level interference in the election process also helped specific mindset to remain dominant in South Waziristan. Specifically, the Mehsud-dominated area has only been represented by incompetent religious lot. Thus, these factors led to making the Mehsud area a hub of a certain religious group. Today, the majority of problems faced by Mehsud tribe can be attributed to the ineptitude of its political representatives.
However, this trend is lately challenged by Mehsud Youth Union which comprises politically-motivated youngsters who want to serve their people. They have decided to confront this dominant mafia by uniting against it and to launch a campaign across the Mehsud area in South Waziristan. This campaign lasted for just 18 days but its outcome was outstanding.
In PK-113, many candidates were contesting the elections, including those from the mainstream political parties. However, the JUI-F owing to its repeated victory from this constituency was the toughest rival for the Mehsud Youth Union. The reason for their toughness wasn't public support but the tactics which they routinely apply in manipulating the election result. Moreover, the polling staff work hands in gloves with them. Calling their local leadership experts of rigging won't be wrong.
And on the Election Day, the local leadership of JUI-F did what they are widely known for. They edited the figures and rigged the results. On this, Mehsud Youth Union’s unanimously-chosen candidate Abdul Waheed Mehsud submitted an application for recounting. It was accepted and he won by 37 votes.
Consequently, the JUI-F supporters started protesting and threatening the ECP officials. They employed different well-known pressure tactics which led to delay in the notification of Waheed's success.
The JUI-F argued that there should be another recounting in which all the polling stations should be recounted. Legally speaking, it was out of question after the lapse of 24 hours. Until the third recounting was done, they kept the Tank DC office and the surrounding area hostage.
This led to the happening of third recounting in which the JUI-F led by a thin margin of 27 votes. Now in a country like ours 27 votes lead itself raises doubts. It basically depicts the political death of JUI-F in South Waziristan.
Apart from the manipulated outcome of the results, what's noticeable is Mehsud Youth Union's emergence enjoying the support of youth who are concerned about their area’s fundamental issues. Their struggle is to give honest representative to the Mehsud tribe who has suffered a great deal due to the incompetent representatives in the Parliament.
The most tragic aspect is that it was for the first time that provincial elections were held in the erstwhile FATA. Unfortunately, the way its foundation has been laid would further create chasm between the state and the tribesmen for there were innumerable irregularities in the election procedure. Everywhere candidates are protesting against rigging and manipulation. Astonishingly all this went unnoticed on our media. The provincial elections were an opportunity for the state to win the hearts and minds of the people. But things went contrary to it.
All in all, the Mehsud Youth Union needs to work on further strengthening its foundations so that it becomes an invincible political force. They need to bear in mind that it is the most affected area among of the merged districts. If they give up then the Mahsud area would be deprived of a great blessing. Their existence would spring an era of prosperity and development and, therefore, they need to be more vigorous in the coming times.
However, this trend is lately challenged by Mehsud Youth Union which comprises politically-motivated youngsters who want to serve their people. They have decided to confront this dominant mafia by uniting against it and to launch a campaign across the Mehsud area in South Waziristan. This campaign lasted for just 18 days but its outcome was outstanding.
In PK-113, many candidates were contesting the elections, including those from the mainstream political parties. However, the JUI-F owing to its repeated victory from this constituency was the toughest rival for the Mehsud Youth Union. The reason for their toughness wasn't public support but the tactics which they routinely apply in manipulating the election result. Moreover, the polling staff work hands in gloves with them. Calling their local leadership experts of rigging won't be wrong.
And on the Election Day, the local leadership of JUI-F did what they are widely known for. They edited the figures and rigged the results. On this, Mehsud Youth Union’s unanimously-chosen candidate Abdul Waheed Mehsud submitted an application for recounting. It was accepted and he won by 37 votes.
Consequently, the JUI-F supporters started protesting and threatening the ECP officials. They employed different well-known pressure tactics which led to delay in the notification of Waheed's success.
The JUI-F argued that there should be another recounting in which all the polling stations should be recounted. Legally speaking, it was out of question after the lapse of 24 hours. Until the third recounting was done, they kept the Tank DC office and the surrounding area hostage.
This led to the happening of third recounting in which the JUI-F led by a thin margin of 27 votes. Now in a country like ours 27 votes lead itself raises doubts. It basically depicts the political death of JUI-F in South Waziristan.
Apart from the manipulated outcome of the results, what's noticeable is Mehsud Youth Union's emergence enjoying the support of youth who are concerned about their area’s fundamental issues. Their struggle is to give honest representative to the Mehsud tribe who has suffered a great deal due to the incompetent representatives in the Parliament.
The most tragic aspect is that it was for the first time that provincial elections were held in the erstwhile FATA. Unfortunately, the way its foundation has been laid would further create chasm between the state and the tribesmen for there were innumerable irregularities in the election procedure. Everywhere candidates are protesting against rigging and manipulation. Astonishingly all this went unnoticed on our media. The provincial elections were an opportunity for the state to win the hearts and minds of the people. But things went contrary to it.
All in all, the Mehsud Youth Union needs to work on further strengthening its foundations so that it becomes an invincible political force. They need to bear in mind that it is the most affected area among of the merged districts. If they give up then the Mahsud area would be deprived of a great blessing. Their existence would spring an era of prosperity and development and, therefore, they need to be more vigorous in the coming times.