The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday refuted Babar Awan’s statement about the National Assembly seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) being reduced, terming it an attempt to spread confusion among the public.

In a statement issued on X (formerly Twitter), ECP said that under the 25th constitutional amendment that was passed in 2018, the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas were merged into the KP.

Consequently, the 12 seats of former FATA were replaced to give KP six additional seats in the National Assembly.

As a result, the KP’s general seats had been increased from 39 to 45. ECP added that the provincial assembly had also been given 16 more seats to increase them from 99 to 115.

The Commission called Awan’s statement about the seats being decreased ‘amusing’ and said that as a lawyer he should not make statements against the constitution. It added that increasing or decreasing the seats was the parliament’s prerogative.

Awan had told reporters after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s core committee meeting that the ECP had reduced five seats from KP, a party stronghold. He had termed it an infringement on the province’s autonomy and called for a level playing field in an election.