Shafique Sher Afridi, an independent candidate who won last week’s provincial assembly elections in the newly-merged tribal districts, announced on Thursday that he was joining the ruling party.In a statement released from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Afridi met with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in Islamabad along with other senior leaders of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including Jehangir Tareen, and announced that he was officially joining the party.Mahmood welcomed Afridi’s decision to join the party, adding that development of the erstwhile federally administered tribal areas (Fata) is the top-most priority of the incumbent government.Independent candidates joining the provincial government, the chief minister explained, will allow all such elected representatives to become a part of the 10-year-long development programme of the provincial government for the newly-merged areas.Further, it will allow all such elected representatives to personally monitor and implement the development plan in their respective constituencies."Although there are many challenges ahead of us, yet our objectives are clear and we are confident that we will achieve rapid development in the tribal districts," Mahmood stated.Afridi had won the elections in PK-107 Khyber-III by securing 9,796 votes and beating off competition from fellow independent candidate Hameedullah Jan Afridi who could only muster 8,428 votes. PTI candidate Muhammad Zubair was third with just 6,375 votes.Afridi is the first successful independent candidate in the recently-held provincial assembly to join the PTI. In the elections, the PTI had secured five seats while six independents had won. The JUI-F had secured three seats, the ANP and the JI secured a seat apiece.Workers and supporters of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) workers staged a demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s compound in Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday as they continued their protest over the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) refusal to conduct a second vote recount for PK-113 South Waziristan-I.The protesters held up banners and placards as they chanted slogans against the district returning officer (DRO). They also torched tyres in front of the DC compound.Strict security measures were adopted by the district police officer and the deputy commissioner ahead of the protest.The protesters claimed that initially, JUI-F candidate Hafiz Assamuddin had been declared as the winner by securing 10,356 votes while his nearest competitor, Waheed Khan had secured 9,679 votes, a difference of 677 votes.However, later when the votes were recounted in two polling stations of Zangara and Shikarim, the DRO de-notified Assamuddin and declared Waheed as the winner with a lead of 38 votes.The protestors claimed that their candidate had been post facto defeated under a heinous and designed conspiracy and warned that unless the DC intervenes, they will continue their protests until such time that their demands are met.Published in The Express Tribune, July 26, 2019.