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Pakistan Holds Historic Vote in Former 'Epicenter' of Terror

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan organized its first ever provincial elections
   Saturday in a northwestern region along the mountainous border with
   Afghanistan that until a few years ago was condemned as the "epicenter"
   of international terrorism.

   Pakistani officials said the elections in the seven districts of what
   were formerly known as the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA)
   are central to steps the government has taken to supplement regional
   and global efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan and counter violent
   extremism.

   Pakistani election officials said some 2.8 million registered voters
   were to choose from 285 candidates for 16 seats in the legislative
   assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
   The contestants, including two women, represented major mainstream
   political parties. The election was held under tight security and no
   incidents of violence were reported.

   The historic vote came on a day when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran
   Khan left for the United States for his first meeting with President
   Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, where the two leaders will
   discuss counterterrorism measures among a range of other issues.

   A landmark constitutional amendment pushed through the parliament last
   year paved the ground for the tribal territory to be merged in the
   adjoining KP province to bring it into the national mainstream.

   Until last year, the lawless border regions of FATA were federally
   administered through a set of British colonial laws that were not
   applicable to the rest of Pakistan, and residents could vote only in
   the national assembly, lower house of the parliament.

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