ISLAMABAD  -  The Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP] yesterday fulfilled a last pre-requisite for conducting February polls by notifying the new constituencies list after delimitations.

The notification about delimitation of constituencies of national and provincial assemblies has almost dispelled the impression of delay in the scheduled general polls. The much-awaited final list, prepared after digital population consensus, revealed the total number of general seats of the four legislatures is 593 out of which 132 are reserved for women and 24 are reserved for non-Muslims.

The National Assembly seats have been decreased from 272 to 266. Now, the figure for becoming the new prime minister/leader of the house in the National Assembly has been reduced to 169 from the previous 172. The finalization of national assembly constituencies, according to Article 51[3] of the Constitution, will now be 266 general seats, with 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims.

According to the notification, Balochistan has a total of 20 National Assembly seats, including 16 general and four reserved seats for women; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] has 45 general NA seats and 10 reserved seats for women; Sindh has a total of 75 NA seats of which 61 are general and the remaining 14 are reserved for women. The largest province Punjab has 141 general NA seats and 32 seats reserved for women while the federal capital has representation of three general seats in the National Assembly with no seat reserved for women.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Aassembly has now 115 general seats, 26 seats reserved for women and four seats for non-Muslims and the total number of seats in the legislature stands at 145.

The Sindh consists of 130 general seats, whereas 29 seats are reserved for women and nine seats for non-Muslims and the total number of seats is 168. The Punjab 297 general seats, 66 reserved for women and eight for non-Muslims. The total strength of the provincial legislature is 371 seats. Each province is divided into separate territorial constituencies as the number of general seats allocated to that province under Article -51 of the Constitution. The Islamabad Capital Territory is divided into as many separate territorial constituencies as the number of general seats allocated under Article 51.

The general seats of the provincial assemblies are divided by, dividing each province into as many separate territorial constituencies as the number of general seats specified for each province in Article 106.

For women’s seats in the National Assembly, a province is treated as a single constituency for all seats reserved for women, which are allocated to that province under Article 51.

The top election regulatory body had received over 1,324 objections regarding delimitation of constituencies from all over the country. It has speedily disposed of objections since November 1 provinces-wise.

The commission, in the delimitation process, received 1,324 objections from all provinces and Islamabad including 672 in Punjab, 228 in Sindh, 293 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 124 in Balochistan, and seven in Islamabad. For addressing the objections, two benches were assigned to hear objections. The first bench, started operation on November 1, of several districts, including Islamabad, Shikarpur, Khuzdar, Sialkot, Rajanpur and others. The second bench handled objections related to constituencies in Kurram, Attock, Jhelum, Nankana Sahib, Kohat, and Korangi districts.