LAHORE MIRROR — The Election Commission has revealed the constituencies’ timetable, asserting that general elections cannot be conducted within a 90-day timeframe.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday declared its intention to finalize the delimitation process using the new digital census data.
As per this notification, the general elections will not take place within 90 days following the dissolution of the general assembly.
According to the schedule announced through a notification, the date for the final publication of the delimitation is December 12, 2023. This shows that elections will not take place within the 90-day constitutional period.
“In pursuance of Article 51 of the Constitution and Section 17(2) of the Election Act of 2017, the ECP has approved the schedule for carrying out delimitation of the constituencies afresh in accordance with official results of 7th population and Housing Census-2023,” it read.
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With ECP’s decision to conduct delimitation exercise on the basis of new digital census, the general elections cannot take place by November.
Earlier, polls were also not held within the 90-day period in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces and the interim setup continues in both the provinces till now.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had dissolved the assemblies hoping that it would force the then federal government to go for snap polls. However, this did not happen.
The population census 2023 was approved just days before the previous government’s term concluded.
In response to the latest census, the Election Commission has resolved to reconfigure constituencies nationwide.
The Commission underscores that the comprehensive process of delineating constituencies necessitates more time than the 90-day limit, with finalization anticipated by December 14.
Following the completion of constituency revisions by December 14, the Election Commission will unveil the subsequent election schedule.
The ECP has issued a Notification and Directive outlining the schedule for conducting the delimitation of Constituencies afresh, in alignment with the official results of the 7th Population and Housing Census-2023.
