PTI backs down on early elections demand, wants them held on time

PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi says party has reached this decision after internal discussions

Pulling back from its early general elections demand, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said on Wednesday that the polls should be conducted on their scheduled time next year.

PTI Deputy Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad that the party had reached this decision after internal discussions, Express News reported.

He added that new constituencies would be carved out in accordance with the results of the latest census for the general elections.

Qureshi pointed out that Punjab would cede nine seats, including seven general and two reserved for women.



He noted that Gujranwala, Kasur, Okara, Sahiwal, Attock, Sheikhupura and Pakpattan would each lose a seat.

Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargrah and Layyah, he added, would each have an additional seat.

"We are ready for the elections but the party has mutually decided that the polls should be held on time," he remarked.

On Tuesday,  it was decided in a meeting of parliamentary leaders, chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, that the number of seats for Punjab would decrease by nine, adding to the strength of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while an additional seat would be allocated to Islamabad.



The re-composition of the National Assembly was necessary after the census 2017.

“The number of seats will remain the same. There will be a change in the allocation of seats for the provinces,” Sadiq told reporters after the meeting.

Of the nine seats Punjab will cede, four general and one reserved for women will go to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Balochistan will see an increase of two general seats and one for women.

There will be one additional seat for the Islamabad Capital Territory while Sindh and the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will see no change to their strength. Currently, the ICT has two seats which would now become three.