Pakistan poll body unveils schedule of by-polls for NA reserved seats

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 7 : In an announcement on Sunday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has unveiled the schedule of by-polls on four National Assembly (NA) reserved seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan.
The by-polls will be held on the four vacant seats of the National Assembly on September 25, ECP announced. The constituencies included NA-22 Mardan, NA-24 Charsadda, NA-31 Peshawar and NA-45 Kurram as a public notice was issued for the election schedule for the reserved NA seats for women in the province, ARY News reported.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) received the resignations of 11 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs on July 29. The resignations of 11 PTI MNAs including Shireen Mazari, Ali Muhammad Khan, Ijaz Shah, Farrukh Habib, Shandana Gulzar, Fazal Muhammad, Fakhar Zaman, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Jameel Ahmed and Akram Cheema were approved initially and more resignations will be accepted in phases.
On August 5, the commission released the by-election schedule for the nine general seats of the National Assembly that fell vacant after the resignation of PTI MNAs. 11 seats held by PTI lawmakers have been deemed vacated by the electoral watchdog of Pakistan. The by-polls on the 11 vacated seats will be held within 60 days.
The by-election on the nine general seats of the National Assembly will be held on September 25 whereas the nomination papers can be submitted between August 10 and August 13, reported ARY News. However, the nomination papers will be scrutinized on August 17, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated.
Notably, the Speaker had consulted Khursheed Shah, Ayaz Sadiq and Khawaja Saad Rafique before accepting the resignations and sent a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in order to denotify the lawmakers.