ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Friday it had started the process of delimiting national and provincial level constituencies.

Delimitation is a process to divide the country's total area into smaller units in order to conduct elections efficiently and easily.

On Thursday, the Chief Election Commissioner said snap polls would not be possible before October 2022 because the commission needed at least four additional months to complete delimitation.

“Election commission has started the delimitation of all constituencies of National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies on the basis of 2017 Census and Population Statistics,” ECP said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.

“[Chief Election Commissioner] ordered to complete the task within 4 months on emergency basis.” 

The next general elections are scheduled to be held in Pakistan before October 12, 2023, or less than 60 days from the dissolution of the National Assembly which will take place on August 13, 2023.

However, the possibility of early elections cannot be ruled out as National Assembly will hold voting on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan tomorrow, Saturday. 

If Khan loses the vote, parliament can continue to function until its five-year tenure ends in August 2023, after which a general election is due within 60 days.

There will be a vote in the National Assembly to elect a new prime minister to serve until then. Candidates can be put forward by any party with legislators in the assembly.

The new prime minister can, however, call a general election immediately, without waiting until 2023.

Some constitutional analysts say the assembly can be dissolved and a general election held if no candidate can secure a majority of votes to become the prime minister.

“Election Commission has ordered Secretary Election Commission and Special Secretary Election Commission to present a complete action plan for the general election," the ECP said. "So that monitoring and timely completion of all matters should be ensured.”