Pakistan: Election Commission releases initial report on delimitation of constituencies

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 28 (ANI): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday released the provisional report on the delimitation of constituencies based on the recently concluded census, Dawn reported.
Under the original delimitation schedule issued by the ECP on August 17 — ten days after the notification of census results — the initial delimitation exercise was to be completed on October 7 and preliminary proposals for delimitation along with the report were to be published on October 9.
However, on September 1, the ECP had announced squeezing timelines of the delimitation exercise by 14 days to complete the process on Nov 30, instead of the scheduled Dec 1, Dawn reported.
“The publication of the preliminary constituencies will continue for 30 days from Sept 27 to Oct 26,” it said, highlighting that objections (representations) to the preliminary constituencies can be made by the voters of the concerned constituency.
Based on the initial delimitation, the population distribution in the National Assembly constituencies is as follows: Balochistan has 9,30,900 voters, followed by 9,13,052 voters in Sindh, 9,07,913 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,05,595 in Punjab, and 7,87,954 in Islamabad, according to Dawn.
The National Assembly consists of 266 general seats and 60 seats reserved for women. 10 seats have also been reserved for non-Muslims. Punjab holds the majority of 141 seats in NA, followed by Sindh with 61, KP with 45, Balochistan with 16, and Islamabad with three.
In the provincial assembly constituencies, the figures show Punjab leads with a total population of 4,29,929, followed by Sindh with 4,28,432, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 3,55,270, and Balochistan with 2,92,047.
As per the delimitation report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the share of seats in the national and provincial assemblies have 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,” Dawn quoted the release.
“In calculating the total number of seats, a fraction of 0.5 and above was generally taken as one seat and a fraction below 0.5 was ignored. Due to the peculiar situation in Balochistan, more than one district has been clubbed. Similarly, few clubbings have also been made in other provinces where necessary,” it added.
Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced that the elections will take place next year in the last week of January, according to Dawn.
Notably, the PML-N-led Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government dissolved the National Assembly on August 9.
However, the outgoing government in a Council of Common Interest (CCI) meeting had unanimously approved the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023.
After the dissolution of the National Assembly of Pakistan in August, Senator Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar was picked as caretaker Prime Minister of the country.
Despite criticism from different political sections, Kakar had called endorsed the delimitation, calling it a “constitutional exercise.” (ANI)