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PESHAWAR - The Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday ordered re-election on PK-23 Shangla seat citing less voters turnout than the required 10 percent turnout of female voters of the total cast votes.

According to Election Act, 2017, election of a constituency would be declared null and void if women voters turnout remains less than ten percent of the total cast votes.

According to ECP record, a total of 13 candidates were in the run for PK-23 Shangla. The candidates included PTI’s Shaukat Yousafzai who got 17,399 votes, M Rashad Khan of PML-N who secured 15,533 votes, Mutawakil Khan of ANP with 13,942 votes, Afsar-ul-Malk of PPP secured 9,636 votes, M Yar of MMA secured 5,922 votes, Sarbaz Khan, an independent candidate with 1,479 votes and seven other independent candidates who get their due share in the run.

The ECP has already stopped the issuance of the victory notification of PTI candidate Shaukat Ali, citing the low turnout of women.

Talking to mediamen, PTI MPA-elect Shaukat Yousafzai said it is injustice on the part of Election Commission. He said that only women should re-poll their votes to avoid re-polling of the whole voters in order to save govt resources. He said he would appeal against the decision as he could not bear huge expense of his election campaign again.

NADER BUNERI