The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken a significant step towards the upcoming polls by issuing the lists of preliminary delimitation of constituencies. This move brings the ECP closer to the planned timeline of holding elections by the last week of January.
In a press release, the ECP announced that the report of preliminary delimitation, along with the lists, has been uploaded on its website and is accessible to the public. The maps of the initial delimitation are also available online.
The publication of the preliminary constituencies will continue for 30 days, from September 27th to October 26th. During this period, objections or representations can be made by the voters of the concerned constituency. These representations should be addressed to the commission’s secretary and submitted to the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad by October 27th.
The ECP will review and decide on these representations from October 28th to November 26th after hearing the positions of the respective parties involved. It is important to note that representations sent via courier, post, or fax will not be accepted by the commission.
The preliminary report of delimitation reveals the population distribution in the National Assembly constituencies. Balochistan has 930,900 voters, followed by Sindh with 913,052 voters, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 907,913 voters, Punjab with 905,595 voters, and Islamabad with 787,954 voters.
The National Assembly consists of 266 general seats, 60 seats reserved for women, and 10 seats reserved for non-Muslims. In the provincial assembly constituencies, Punjab has the highest population, followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.
The ECP explained that the population of each province/area has been divided by the total number of general seats to obtain the average population or quota per National Assembly seat. The total number of seats was calculated by considering a fraction of 0.5 and above as one seat, while fractions below 0.5 were ignored. Additionally, some districts in Balochistan and other provinces have been merged to accommodate the unique situations in those areas.
This preliminary delimitation report is a significant milestone in the lead-up to the upcoming polls. The ECP will carefully consider all objections and representations before finalizing the delimitation process, paving the way for a fair and representative electoral system in Pakistan.