Work on seat adjustment begins at district level

On the direction of the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the district organisations of all the three parties have started their work on the adjustment of seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the final report of which will be sent to their provincial leadership.

On Wednesday, PPP, ANP, and JUI-F reached an initial understanding on seat adjustment in K-P for the next general elections, recognising each other’s right to fielding candidates on the seats already won by them.

The parties laid the groundwork for a political understanding at a meeting at the Bacha Khan Center in Peshawar. At the meeting, Senator Haji Hidayatullah, Central Culture Secretary Khadim Hussain and Syed Masoom Shah represented the ANP.

On the other hand, former PPP provincial president Zahir Ali Shah, former K-P speaker Karamatullah Chagharmati, Provincial Information Secretary Amjad Afridi, Malik Tehmash and Misbahuddin also present during the talks.

According to JUI-F spokesperson Abdul Jalil Jan on Friday, the leadership of JUI-F, ANP, and PPP agreed on the seat adjustment for the general elections, in continuation of which the three parties have directed their district organisations to coordinate with each other for the national and provincial assembly seats of their respective districts.

“Consult on matters of adjustment regarding the seats of the provincial assembly and send it to the provincial leadership for approval by preparing the formula so that it can be approved and announced,” the spokesperson shared the message sent to the district organisations.

Jan said that as the provincial leadership of the three parties did not want to impose any decision on the district organisations, “this work has been handed over to the district organisations so that they can complete their respective tasks on their own”.

“Seat adjustment can only be done considering the situation of the districts,” he said, adding that however, it would be approved by the provincial leadership of the three parties, after which it will be formally announced.

He said that the three parties agreed on the seat adjustment and these guidelines had been sent to the district organisations so that they could take decisions in the light of it.

In the meeting on Wednesday, it was decided that the parties would keep the constituencies they won or remained the runners-up in the 2018 elections. “All the three parties would retain their seats they won in the 2018 elections,” said a source, while confirming the outcome of the meeting.

“On those seats which ANP, PPP and JUI-F failed to win would be left to the runners-up party,” the source said, adding that on the remaining seats Quami Watan Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would be contacted.