ISLAMABAD: In a step forward towards ensuring the general elections are held on the given date of February 8, 2024, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will publish final list of the constituencies today (November 30).
The ECP has disposed of the objections on the changes to the revamped constituencies. The polls supervisory body had announced in September that it would issue the final list of constituencies on November 30.
The fresh list of the constituencies has been compiled in light of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023, ahead of the general elections.
Within few days, the ECP is expected to announce the election schedule including the date of filing of nomination papers, process of filing challenges to the candidatures and their disposal by the relevant returning officers and tribunals etc. The voting would be held on February 8 next year.
In the wake of the digital census, the strength of the National Assembly has been decreased by six seats to 336 as the ECP reduced the representation of the newly-merged districts in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 12 to six seats.
In 2018, the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was merged in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province under the 25th Constitutional Amendment and initially 12 National Assembly seats were allocated to those districts for one time, which had now been reduced to six.
Hence, KP’s strength in the National Assembly comes down to 45 from 51 in 2018. Punjab, however, retained its 141 National Assembly seats; Sindh 51, Balochistan 16 and Islamabad three.
Similarly, the provincial assemblies would comprise: Punjab 297 seats; Sindh 130; KP 115 and Balochistan 51 seats.
