Without new constituencies, the next general election will be illegal, Election Commission sources said

ISLAMABAD: Without new constituencies, the next general elections will be illegal while the elections could be challenged in court.

According to sources, the Election Commission is still awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court on the issue of the upcoming general elections across the country. Deputy Speaker Rowling will decide on the hearing of the suo motu notice case by convening a formal meeting of the Election Commission.

The biggest challenge facing the Election Commission will be the new delimitations as new delimitations are required across the country under the Constitution and the Election Act.

After the notification of Census 2017 and integration of FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, new zoning will have to be done while new zoning will have to be done due to formation of new districts in Sindh.

According to Election Commission sources, the total number of seats in the National Assembly has been reduced from 272 to 266 after the 2017 census.