Election timeline: ECP issues initial delimitation report

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday published the lists of preliminary delimitation of constituencies based on the recently concluded census, taking an important step towards the conduct of the general election in the last week of January.

In its report, the ECP stated that the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) published the final results of the 7th digital census on August 7, and the electoral body launched the delimitation process under Section 17 of the Elections Act 2017. The ECP’s statement had finally ended the uncertainty surrounding the elections as the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government’s move to approve a new census mandated the electoral body to carry out new delimitation before holding polls, sparking fears of an undue delay in polls.

The National Assembly comprises of 266 general seats and 60 seats reserved for women. Ten seats have also been reserved for non-Muslims. The report showed that Punjab has the highest number of seats in the National Assembly followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad. The breakdown showed that Punjab with a population of 127.6 million has been given 141 seats and each constituency had been divided based on a quota of 905,595. For the Punjab Assembly, 297 seats have been allocated with each quota seat determined at 429,929.

In Sindh, the 61 NA seats for the 55.6 million population have been divided on a quota of 913,052 per seat. For the Sindh Assembly, 130 seats have been divided on a quota of 428,432 per seat. In the case of KP, the census showed a population of 40.8 million and have been allocated 45 NA seats. Each NA seat has been divided on a quota of 907,913. On the other hand, Islamabad, which is the federal capital, has a population of 2.3 million and has been given 3 seats and each seat quota has been determined as 787,954. In the KP Assembly’s case, 115 seats have been divided on a quota of 355,270. The report also shared that out of a total of 36 districts in KP 10 “could not attain population threshold/ quota for an exclusive” NA seat, while, the rest of the 26 districts attained sufficient population threshold to secure at least one complete seat or more than one seat in the National Assembly.

“Districts with insufficient population for an independent seat were merged into inter-district constituencies based on the laid down principles of delimitation, keeping in view the historical affiliation, socio-economic interdependence, homogeneity and public convenience,” the report added. The merger of 13 KP districts in inter-district constituencies has been made and they are: Chitral Upper, Chitral Lower, Kohistan Upper, Kohistan Lower, Kolae Palas Kohistan, Mansehra, Torghar, Hangu, Orakzai, Tank, DI Khan, South Waziristan Upper and South Waziristan Lower. The provincial assembly seats in Peshawar were reduced from 14 to 13 under the new delimitations.

According to the preliminary list, Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral got one each seat in KP assembly, Swat got 8, Upper Dir 3, Lower Dir 5, Bajaur 4, Malakand 2, Buner 3, Shangla 3, Lower Kohistan 1, Upper Kohistan 1, Kolai-Palas Kohistan 1, Battagram 2, Mansehra 5, Torghar 1, Abbottabad 4, Haripur 3. Besides the number of KP assembly seats in Mardan will be 8, Swabi 5, Charsadda 5, Mohmand 2, Khyber 3, Peshawar 13, Nowshera 5, Kohat 3, Hangu 1, Orakzai 1, Kurram 2, Karak 2, Bannu 4, North Waziristan 2, Lakki Marwat 3, Tank 1, South Waziristan Upper 1, South Waziristan Lower 1 and Dera Ismail has 5 seats in the KP Assembly under the new delimitations.

Also, there is one seat in NA for Lower and Upper Chitral, 3 for Swat, 1 for Upper Dir, 2 for Lower Dir, 1 each for Bajaur, Malakand, Buner and Shangla, 1 collectively for the three Kohistan districts, one for Battagram, one for Mansehra, one for Torghar-cum-Mansehra, 2 Abbottabad, 1 for Haripur. Also, the Swabi will have 2 representatives in the NA, Mardan 3, Charsadda 2, Mohmand and Khyber 1 each, Peshawar 5, Nowshera 2, Kohat and Kurram 1, Hangu and Orakzai 1, Karak 1, Bannu 1, Lakki Marwat 1, North Waziristan 1. Besides, there will be two seats in Dera Ismail Khan, one seat for Dera-cum-Tank and one for South Waziristan Upper and Lower.

In Balochistan, 14.8 million people have been given 16 NA seats and each constituency has been divided on a quota of 930,900. The provincial assembly of the provinces has 51 seats and each seat has been divided on the quota of 292,047. In the southwestern province, Killa Saifullah, Zhob and Sherani have been clubbed into one NA seat; Musakhail, Barkhan, Loralai and Duki in one; Harnai, Sibi, Kohlu and Dera Bugti have been given one; Nasirabad, Jhalmagsi, Kachhi, Jaffarabad, Usta Muhammad and Sohbatpur have been clubbed by allocating two NA seats; Quetta has been given three NA seats; Ziarat and Pishin have been clubbed; Killa Abdullah and Chaman have been clubbed; Nushki, Chagai, Washuk and Kharan have been clubbed; Mastung, Kalat and Surab have been clubbed; Lasbella, Hub and Awaran have been clubbed; and Panjgur, Kech and Gawadar have also been clubbed.

As per the preliminary report, Karachi now has 22 NA seats and 47 Sindh Assembly seats, whereas previously, it had 21 and 44 respectively. According to the delimitation report, the share of seats in the national and provincial assemblies has been worked out on the basis of the final results of the 2023 census. The population of the province/ area has been divided by the total number of general seats and the average population or quota per National Assembly seat was obtained. Similarly, the population of a province was divided by the total number of general seats allocated to the provincial assembly to obtain a quota per seat. The share of a district was determined by dividing the population of that district with the quota per seat of the National Assembly or as the case may be, of the provincial assembly. The principles of delimitation laid down in Section 20 of the Elections Act 2017 have been followed, as far as practicable, as relevant in the case of each district and constituency.

On September 1, the ECP had announced squeezing timelines of the delimitation exercise by 14 days to complete the process on November 30, instead of the scheduled December 14 and then announced to hold the elections in the last week of January next year, most probably on January 28. The publication of the preliminary constituencies will continue for 30 days from September 27 to October 26. The objections (representations) to the preliminary constituencies can be made by the voters of the concerned constituency. The representations, the ECP said, should be addressed to the commission’s secretary and be submitted to the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad by October 27. The ECP will take decisions on these representations from October 28 to November 26 after hearing the positions of the respective parties.

Listing the procedure of submitting the representations, the ECP said it should be submitted by a voter of the concerned constituency in the form of a “memorandum” and entail the signatures of the voter. It said eight copies of the representations and constituency maps were required to be submitted. It said the district maps can be obtained from the ECP for a “small fee”. “Representations by courier, post and fax etc. will not be accepted,” the commission added. The ECP said the report of preliminary delimitation, along with the lists (Form 5), has been uploaded on the commission’s website and can be accessed by the public. Maps of the initial delimitation are also available on the website.