ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Transport Minister Shah Mohammad Khan Wazir for attacking polling stations in Bakakhel during the first phase of local body elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The ECP also scrapped the provincial assembly membership of Shah Mohammad Wazir by holding him responsible for attacking polling stations in the Bakakhel area of Bannu district during the first phase of LB elections in KP in December 2021.

The Election Commission also declared Shah Mohammad Wazir’s son Mamoonur Rasheed as ineligible to contest the election for his part in the incident. The ECP ordered registration of a criminal case against Mamoonur Rasheed and he also could not contest an election until the outcome of that case. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) had accused Shah Mohammad Khan Wazir of committing rigging in the local government election in the district.

JUI MNA Zahid Akram Durrani and former Member Provincial Assembly Adnan Wazir had said in December that the minister took away election material from polling stations in Bakakhel. They alleged the minister and his brother stormed five polling stations in Bakakhel and took away ballot papers and ballot boxes.

The JUI leader said the minister barged into the polling stations along with the official guards in order to help his son win the polls. They said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had stolen the 2018 general election through this tactic.

Pertinent to note that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in 2017 had also disqualified Shah Mohammad Khan Wazir under Section 4. Shah Mohammad Wazir was then working as an advisor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.