CHITRAL: The steering committee of all the political parties in Chitral has demanded of the government to restore the provincial assembly seat from Lower Chitral and hold by-election there.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, the committee’s general secretary Fazlur Rehman said that Chitral was the only region in the country where two districts had a single seat of the provincial assembly.

He said that area-wise Chitral was the largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, needing huge funds for its development, which was not possible without separate MPA from each district.

Mr Rehman said it was a cruel joke with the people of Chitral that after its bifurcation into upper and lower districts, one of the provincial constituencies was abolished.

He said Chitral had two provincial assembly constituencies by the general elections of 1977, but one of them was abolished in 2018. He declared that population and the backwardness of the area warranted three seats.

He warned the government that the people of Chitral would protest if the seat was not restored forthwith.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2021