PESHAWAR, May 28: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday announced the names of successful candidates on seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, increasing the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf strength in the 124-strong House to 55.

According to the ECP notification, PTI won 10 of the 22 seats reserved for women and one of the three seats reserved for non-Muslims in the provincial assembly.

Earlier after joining of nine of the independent members-elect of the Assembly, PTI had 44 members in the House.

Of the seats reserved for women, PTI has secured 10, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl three each, Qaumi Watan Party two, and Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan and Pakistan People’s Party one each.

Also, PTI, PML-N and JUI-F have won one each of the seats reserved for non-Muslims in the assembly.

Now, PTI has the most seats in the House i.e. 55 followed by PML-N and JUI-F with 17 each, JWP 10, JI eight, ANP and AJIP five each, PPP four and All Pakistan Muslim League one, while two members-elect are independent.

The seats reserved for women and non-Muslims were filled under Section 47a of the Representation of People’s Act through proportional representation system of general seats won by a political party in the provincial assembly.

The candidates notified as successful on seats reserved for women include Naseem Hayat, Meher Taj Roghani, Nadia Sher, Aisha Naeem, Maliha Tanveer, Zareen Riaz, Nargas, Nagina Khan, Dina Naz and Bibi Fozia of PTI; Naeem Akhtar, Uzma Khan and Najma Shaheen of JUI-F, Aamna Sardar, Ruqia Hina and Sobia Shahid of PML-N; Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli and Meraj Humayun Khan of JWP; Rashda Riffat of JI; Yasmeen Pir Mohammad of ANP, and Khatoon Bibi of AJIP and Nighat Orakzai of PPP.

Similarly, the candidates declared successful on seats reserved for non-Muslims are Soran Singh of PTI, Askar Pervez of JUI-F and Fredrick Azeem of PML-N.

The ECP also notified names of successful candidates on the eight National Assembly seats reserved for women from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Four candidates are of PTI, two of JUI-F, and one each of PML-N and JI.

They are Nafeesa Inayatullah, Mussarrat Ahmedzaib, Sajida Begum and Aaisah Gulalai of PTI, Shahida Akhtar Ali and Naeema Akhtar of JUI-F, Begum Tahira Bukhari of PML-N and Aisha of JI.

Except few, most successful candidates on reserved seats for women are new faces in the assembly. Among them, Naeema Akhter of JUI-F has been declared successful for both national and provincial assemblies. She is expected to vacate her provincial assembly seat following which the candidate next on her party’s priority list will be notified as MPA.

Romana Jalil, daughter of provincial JUI-F information secretary Abdul Jalil Jan, is likely to be notified as MPA.

Three of the successful members got elected for the third consecutive term as MPA on reserved seat. They are Yasmeen Pir Mohammad of ANP, Uzma Khan of JUI-F and Nighat Orakzai of PPP.

During her previous stint as an MPA, Ms Orakzai was elected on a seat reserved for women on the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid ticket. She had joined PPP before the general elections and was placed on top of the party’s priority list.

Another MPA-elect, Aneesa Zaib Tahirkheli, is a former state minister.

She had remained a senator and also an MPA elected on reserved seats in 1988.

Similarly, Dr Mehr Taj Roghani of PTI, a noted pediatrician, had remained the provincial health minister during the Musharraf government.

Similarly, Meraj Humayun Khan of QWP was the caretaker provincial minister for education prior to the 2008 general elections.