PESHAWAR: The election campaign in North Waziristan got a new impetus, as the district administration lifted the imposition of Section 144 in this volatile region on Monday.
Imposed about a month ago to bolster the security of the area, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure empowers district administrations to ban political gatherings for a specific period in the larger interest of the public.
Abdul Moneem, a senior official in North Waziristan, told Arab News on Monday that a ban on public rallies was imposed on June 10, which stood null and void since it was not renewed.
“Section 144 was imposed for a period of one month,” he said. “It automatically expired after the prescribed period, requiring no fresh notification for lifting it.”
The notification issued on June 10 proclaimed that the district administration was placing a “complete ban on dharnas (sit-ins), public meetings, rallies and public gathering of five or more persons” to “avoid any untoward situation.”
The ban on public gatherings ahead of the tribal district’s first provincial assembly election on July 20 had prompted a backlash from politicians who accused the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of trying to restrict electioneering to provide an unfair advantage to its own candidates.
Last May, Pakistan’s parliament passed legislation to merge the country’s tribal regions along the Pak-Afghan border with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, ending the region’s much-criticized colonial era governance system and bringing it into the political and legal mainstream of the country.
The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) constituted a semi-autonomous region expanding over seven big districts and six towns.
Soon after Section-144 expired, opposition candidates expressed satisfaction, though some of them also noted that they were only left with two weeks to run their election campaigns.
“The imposition of Section 144 had tied our hands behind our back,” said Sher Ullah Wazir, a candidate contesting the elections on Awami National Party (ANP) ticket. “Time is short now, but we will expedite our efforts to reach out to the maximum number of people and villages.”
Jamal Dawar, an independent candidate, said it was totally against the established election rules to ban public gathering in the midst of political campaigns.
“Our right to carry out our election campaign has already been infringed. Still, we’re happy that we’ve two weeks to convince people about our future plans regarding the development of our war-ravaged region,” he added.
However, Tariq Dawar, a senior PTI leader, insisted the imposition of Section 144 was imperative in the wake of several security-related incidents in the district last month.
“I think the tribal people have already rejected most of the opposition candidates due to their irresponsible approach. They have even politicized Section 144 which was imposed purely for security reasons. Everything will become clear now since the election day is drawing closer,” he observed.
Muhammad Noor Wazir, a tribal elder from the region, lauded the district administration for not extending the duration of Section 144, saying the tribal people got a sense of alienation after the ban was imposed.
“The news that the ban on public gatherings had expired spread throughout North Waziristan within a few hours, resulting in renewed election campaigns in the region with great political fervor,” he said.