Links
Secular nationalists sweep Swat by-election
Secular nationalists romped to victory in the election held in the Swat Valley–first since it was wrested from the Taliban six months ago.
The by-election on Thursday for the "PF-83 Swat-4" constituency of the provincial assembly of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province was a litmus test for the government as it encompasses the Kanju and Matta areas that were previously the de facto headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban faction led by Maulana Fazlullah, including his seminary at Imam Dheri.
The by-election was necessitated by the assassination on December 1 of Shamsher Ali Khan, the winning candidate of the Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party (ANP), in the general election held in February 2008. Khan was the first elected representative to have returned to Swat after a successful army operation against militants last summer.