Independent candidates leading with 1,296 seats in Balochistan local government elections 2022

 JUI-F wins 280 seats, ruling BAP 219 seats,  National Party 101 seats, PKMAP 96 seats, BNP-M 76, PPP 58, BNP-A 47, JWP 24, ANP 24, PTI 23 and PML-N 16 seats so far 

The independent candidates are leading in the local government elections held on Sunday in 32 districts of Balochistan. The independents have won more seats than the combine seats of all the political parties. 

According to the unofficial and incomplete results, independent candidates have won 1,296 seats. Among the political parties,  Jamiat Ulema-e -Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) has emerged as the leading party by securing 280 seats and the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) bagged 219 seats so far.

Both the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party of Mehmood Achakzai (PKMAP) and National Party  led by former Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik has made strong come back in their respective strong holds. Both the parties almost routed in the 2018 general elections. But in this election both regained their lost ground. 

PKMAP has won 95 seats while  National Party (NP) secured 100 seats so far.  PPP has also performed better and made gains so far and won 58 seats. This is much better result for the party compare to the last local government elections.

 PPP has improved its chances to win some provincial assembly seats in the upcoming elections. Balochistan National Party (Mengal) bagged 76 seats. The main reason of less seats for BNP-M seems to be the surge of NP and BNP-A. 

PTI performed poorly and won just 23 seats. PTI finished at 11 place in this election. It seems that imran Khan's popular narrative has failed to impress the voters in Balochistan. PTI won 7 provincial assembly seats in 2018 general elections but it seems that party has lost ground in the province. ANP  has won 24 seats while JWP 18 seats.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bagged just 15 seats. PML-N was almost wiped out after major defections in the party. Some heavy weights left the party and joined PPP after developing serious differences with the leadership. 

The polling, which started at 8am, continued till 5pm without any interruption with the process largely remained smooth and peaceful. However, one person was killed during an exchange of fire between two rival groups in the Noshki district. Over three dozen people also sustained injuries in sporadic clashes between rival groups in various parts of the province.

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