ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) specified on Wednesday the number of seats allocated to the country’s tribal districts and frontier regions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.
The decision was taken on the basis of the recent population census in Pakistan that was conducted in 2017.
Located in the northwest of the country, the tribal region witnessed a lot of militant violence since the international forces occupied Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Consequently, Pakistani forces had to launch a string of clear-and-hold military operations to flush out the insurgent groups from the area and destroy their militant training camps along with their communication and logistical facilities.
After restoring some stability in the tribal belt, the country decided to mainstream the region and its population by announcing its merger with the province of KP.
However, this required several administrative and political initiatives, one of which was taken by the ECP on Wednesday when it notified the amended number of seats in the provincial assembly.
According to ECP’s announcement, Bajaur and Khyber tribal districts have been awarded three seats each in KP’s provincial setup, while Mohmand, Kurram, North and South Waziristan districts have each been given two seats. Orakzai is the only tribal district – along with the frontier regions – that has got only one seat in the assembly.
