Legal battle ahead over K-P seat cuts

Jan points out that tribal districts already lost eight senate seats after their merger

PESHAWAR:

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) has expressed strong reservations regarding the reduction of six national assembly seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) following the recent delimitation by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Abdul Jalil Jan, the provincial spokesperson for JUI-F, conveyed the party’s concerns and stated that this decision has intensified the sense of deprivation among the local residents in the tribal districts. He also mentioned that the party intends to challenge this decision in court.

Jan pointed out that the tribal districts had already lost eight senate seats after their merger into K-P, and now they have been further deprived of six national assembly seats, which is seen as a significant injustice to the residents of these underdeveloped regions.

This reduction in representation in the Assembly and Senate is a matter of great concern for the JUI-F, prompting them to take legal action.

To address this issue, JUI-F is in the process of forming a legal team and is committed to pursuing the matter in court.

Jan emphasized that the party had opposed the merger of the tribal districts into K-P when other political parties were in favor of it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2023.