PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The number of vacant seats reserved for women in the 12 districts of the NWFP has come down to 104 compared to 910 seats that remained vacant in the last local government elections.

“The striking difference in the number of vacant seats shows that people are now more aware than they were during the last polls as more women, peasants and workers are contesting the election this time,” said Shabina Ayaz, a member of the team set up by the Aurat Foundation for its ‘Campaign for Women Representation’.

In comparison with the last local government elections when 528 general seats reserved for women remained vacant, this time the figure has dropped to 32. The number of vacant seats for women peasant/worker stood at 382 previously which has reduced to 72 now.

The number of vacant reserved seat for Muslim women in Peshawar has dropped from 72 to 5, in Nowshera from 20 to 1 and in Charsadda from 18 seats to zero.

In Mardan, the number of such seats has reduced from 99 to 2, in Swabi from 103 to 7, in Kohat from 48 to 3, in Karak from 10 to 1 and in Bannu from 79 to 8.

In the first phase, polling will be held in Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Bannu, D.I. Khan, Tank, Haripur and Buner districts.