ECP directs multi-seat winners to vacate extra seats

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) directed candidates who have won more than one seat in the 8th February General Elections to retain only one seat of their choice and vacate others.

As per details, the ECP urged the candidates who emerged victorious from multiple constituencies to vacate the extra seats before administering the oath.

The ECP urged the candidates to submit applications for relinquishing seats to either the office of the Chief Election Commissioner at the ECP in Islamabad or the Provincial Election Commissioner in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

“Alternatively, by Article 223(2), if no action is taken within 30 days, all seats, except the one for which the candidate is ultimately declared successful, will be deemed vacant,” the ECP maintained.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are among the candidates who won more than one seat.

Nominated chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Maryam Nawaz and Ali Amin Gandapur have also won two seats in the 8th February General Elections.