ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Zahid Hamid called on National Assembly Opposition Leader on Thursday to seek Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) help on the matters related to result of census and delimitation.
Upon which, Shah suggested to call a meeting of parliamentary parties on the results of the census, saying cabinet decision won’t give better results if implemented without a detailed consultation on the subject. He said they have given suggestion and now it is up to the government to call a meeting.
In order to avoid bickering among political parties, a meeting of parliamentary parties’ leaders should be convened for intensive consultations, he added.
Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had prepared three formulas for the new delimitation of constituencies following the census. The proposed formulas would be submitted to the cabinet for approval.
Under the first of the three formulas, it was proposed that the number of seats for Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh and the Federal Capital be increased while those for Punjab and FATA be decreased; second formula proposes to maintain the number of FATA seats (at 12) by reallocating fewer new seats to KP, Sindh and Punjab; the third formula proposes to increase the total number of general seats in the NA from 272 to 300, maintaining the number of FATA seats at 12, and increasing the number of all other constituencies’ seats proportionate to the census results.
These proposed formulas were based on provisional census results since the official census results have not been published yet; however, the ECP would need a new legislation in this regard unless it gets final results.
Earlier, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics told Senate that timely elections cannot be held on the basis of new census data, and if the government wanted to hold elections on time, then it would need to delay the elections.
