PESHAWAR (Dunya News/Raja Arsalan Khan) – With the election 2024 nearing, the formation of a united front in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the PTI stronghold – isn’t moving anywhere as the rival parties have been unable to devise a formula for seat adjustment in the province.
There is a deadlock in the ongoing talks after the four political parties – JUI-F, ANP, PPP and PML-N – could not resolve the differences mainly centred around the Peshawar valley, which comprises the most populated districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan and Swabi.
All these parties want a share in the region which is the heartland of ANP support base – the nationalist party which always vigorously guards these constituencies against the influence of others.
Meanwhile, several national and provincial seats in Malakand Division, mainly in Swat and Buner districts, are also proving to be the point of contention.
The February 8 general elections come as the ANP has seen dwindling fortunes with the rise of ANP before and since the 2013 when the PTI formed provincial government after emerging as the largest party.
Although Maulana Fazlur Rehman forcefully pushed for forming a coalition which would have included several parties, Nawaz Sharif – who enjoyed the third term as prime minister back then – fought the temptation, saying the PTI should run the province after winning the most number of seats.
Even now some circles believe that it was a political blunder which gave the PTI founding chairman an opportunity to solidify his position and use the province as a base for future political manoeuvring.
Seat adjustment is vital to the idea of keeping the PTI out of power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – a province known for producing a fractured mandate just like Balochistan – with the exception of 2018 when it obtained a massive majority in the provincial assembly while also bagging most of the National Assembly seats.
Meanwhile, the disputed constituencies in the Peshawar region are most sought-after by all sides for various reasons.
For the JUI-F, it is an opportunity to claim the chief ministership by increasing its number of seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, while the PML-N wants to gain a foothold in the region where it lost the ground after 1990s and maximise its overall tally at both national and provincial levels.
On the other hand, the PPP aims at projecting the image of sole political representing all the provinces [its traditional mantra and slogan], especially in the smaller ones, after losing the voters in Punjab.
But any discussion on the current electoral dynamics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will remain incomplete without taking into another factor – PTI-Parliamentarian, a party faction formed by former chief minister Pervez Khattak who is considered a master of constituency-based politics.
The party position in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly – besides the number of National Assembly seats shared in the province – will depend upon how much damage Khattak will inflict on the PTI.