The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that it will hold by-elections on March 16 for 33 vacant seats in the National Assembly.
The National Assembly seats fell vacant earlier this month when NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted the resignations of 34 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed.
The PTI resigned en masse after Imran Khan’s ouster in April last year, but only 11 resignations were accepted in July.
The Speaker had announced that he would confirm all the remaining resignations individually but after the PTI chief announced his return to the Assembly, he moved quickly, accepting another 113 resignations.
| S.no | Constituency | S.no | Constituency  | S.no | Constituency | S.no | Constituency  |
| 1. | NA-04 Swat-III | 10. | NA-53 Islamabad-II | 19. | NA-126 Lahore-IV | 28. | NA-247 Karachi South-II |
| 2. | NA-17 Haripur-I | 11. | NA-54 Islamabad-III | 20. | NA-130 Lahore-VIII | 29. | NA-250 Karachi West-III |
| 3. | NA-18 Swabi-I | 12. | NA-57 Rawalpindi-I | 21. | NA-155 Multan-I | 30. | NA-252 Karachi West-V |
| 4. | NA-25 Nowshera-I | 13. | NA-59 Rawalpindi-III | 22. | NA-156 Multan-III | 31. | NA-254 Karachi Central-II |
| 5. | NA-26 Nowshera-II | 14. | NA-60 Rawalpindi-IV | 23. | NA-191 Dera Ghazi Khan-III | 32. | NA-256 Karachi Central-IV |
| 6. | NA-32 Kohat | 15. | NA-62 Rawalpindi-VI | 24. | NA-241 Korangi Karachi-III | 33. | NA-265 Quetta-II |
| 7. | NA-38 D.I. Khan-I | 16. | NA-63 Rawalpindi-VII | 25. | NA-242 Karachi East-I | ||
| 8. | NA-43 Khyber-I | 17. | NA-67 Jhelum-II | 26. | NA-243 Karachi East-II | ||
| 9. | NA-52 Islamabad-I | 18. | NA-97 Bhakkar-I | 27. | NA-244 Karachi East-III |
Election Schedule
According to the election schedule announced by ECP today, candidates will be able to submit their nomination papers between February 6 and 8.
The names of the candidates will be published on February 9 and the Returning Officers (ROs) will scrutinize the nomination papers till February 13.
#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
The last date for filing an appeal against the decision of the RO regarding acceptance or rejection of nomination papers is February 16.
According to the election schedule, the last date for the decision of the Appellate Tribunal on the appeals is February 20, after which the revised list of candidates will be released on February 21.
The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers and release of revised list of candidates is February 22 while election symbols will be allotted on February 23 and polling will be held on March 16.
PTI resignations
So far, the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs have been accepted and all have been de-notified.
The resignations of PTI were accepted by Speaker National Assembly Ashraf in four phases. Initially only 11 resignations were accepted, 34 on 17 January, 35 more on 20 January and 43 on 24 January.
The by-elections are being held on the resignations approved on January 17. However, the by-elections are being held on only 33 seats as two seats were reserved for women.
