LAHORE MIRROR — Following the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) expressed concerns regarding the postponement of general elections, Rana Sanaullah Khan, the former interior minister, stated that the party was well aware of the inevitable deferral of the polls.
This acknowledgment was accompanied by the party’s approval of the census during the Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared on Thursday that the elections couldn’t proceed within three months due to the necessity for fresh delimitations post the census 2023 notification, a decision reached through the CCI’s consensus.
Reacting to this, senators from both PPP and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) criticized the ECP’s decision to delay the polls for new delimitations, deeming it “unconstitutional” as the electoral body is constitutionally bound to conduct elections within 90 days.
Rana Sanaullah addressed this matter on the “Naya Pakistan” show on Geo News, acknowledging PPP’s concerns over election delay while emphasizing the constitutional requirement for delimitation after census notification. He highlighted the CCI’s collective decision to notify the census, underscoring that all stakeholders, including PPP, were in agreement.
Sanaullah, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), emphasized that elections held based on the previous census would be unconstitutional and legally challengeable. He clarified that constituencies are restructured following census notification, posing the question whether PPP was unfamiliar with Article 51, clause 5.
Expressing his perspective, Sanaullah stated his preference for elections to be held within 60 days instead of 90, given his understanding of PML-N’s standing in Punjab. He remained optimistic about elections taking place in February 2024, suggesting that the ECP could announce the election schedule after delimitations were completed by December 14.
The former minister reiterated that while conducting elections within 90 days was also a constitutional mandate, there existed some flexibility. He concluded that delimiting constituencies was a constitutional necessity, leaving no alternative course of action.
