ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has abandoned its demand for early elections, saying the polls should be conducted on their scheduled time next year.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi told journalists in Islamabad that the party had mutually decided to back down from its earlier held demand after internal discussions.
He said that new constituencies would be carved out in accordance with the results of the latest census for the general elections, adding Punjab would cede nine seats, including seven general and two reserved for women.
Qureshi remarked that Gujranwala, Kasur, Okara, Sahiwal, Attock, Sheikhupura and Pakpattan would each lose a seat. Lahore, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Layyah, he added, would each have an additional seat.
On Tuesday, it was decided in a meeting of parliamentary leaders, chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, that the number of seats for Punjab would decrease by nine, adding to the strength of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while an additional seat would be allocated to Islamabad.
The re-composition of the National Assembly was necessary following the census 2017.
