ECP announces schedule for elections on NA seats vacated by PTI lawmakers

ISLAMABAD – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued schedule for by-elections on 33 seats of the National Assembly fell vacant after National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted resignations of PTI lawmakers and AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed earlier this month.

An official notification stated that the elections have been announced “in pursuance of Section 57 of the Elections Act 2017 (Act Na XXXIII of 2017), read with Section 102 and clause (4) of Article 224 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.

The by-elections will be held in NA-4 Swat-III, NA-17 Haripur-I, NA-18 Swabi-I, NA-25 Nowshera-I, NA 26 Nowshera-II, NA-32 Kohat, NA-38 DI Khan-I, NA-43 Khyber-I, NA-52 Islamabad-I, NA 53 Islambad-II, NA 57 Rawalpindi-I, NA 57 Rawalpindi-III, NA 60 Rawalpindi-IV, NA 62 Rawalpindi-VI, NA 63 Rawalpindi-VII, NA-67 Jhelum-II, NA-97 Bhakkar-I, NA-126 Lahore-IV, NA-130 Lahore-VII, NA 155 Multan-II, NA 156 Multan-II, NA-191 DG Khan-III, NA 241, Korang Karachi-III, NA 242 Karachi East-I, NA 243 Karachi East-II, NA 244 Karachi East-III, NA 247 Karachi South-II, NA 250 Karachi West, NA 252 Karachi West, NA 254 Karachi Central, NA 256 Karachi Central and NA 265 Quetta-II.

On Jan 17, the NA speaker accepted resignations of PTI MNAs including Pervaiz Khattak, Hammad Azhar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Qaisar, Murad Saeed, Shafqat Mehmood, Sheharyar Afridi, Zartaj Gul, Alamgir Khan, Noorul Haq Qadri, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Ali Nawaz Awan and Ali Amin Khan.

So far, the speaker has accepted resignations of 124 PTI lawmakers, who announced to quit the assembly following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan through no-confidence motion in April 2022.

#ECP Notifies Bye Elections Programme In 33 Constituencies Of National Assembly Of Pakistan pic.twitter.com/sj0xrUndFZ

— Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL)🇵🇰 (@ECP_Pakistan) January 27, 2023

As per the schedule, the ECP has directed the candidates to submit their nomination papers to the returning officers from Feb 6 to Feb 8 while scrutiny of nominations papers will be conducted on Feb 13.

After allotment of election symbols to the candidates on Feb 23, the polling will be held in the constituencies on March 16.