ISLAMABAD: The upcoming general elections in Pakistan would be held based on the results of the 2023 population census, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday, reiterating that the government was committed to holding polls on time in accordance with Pakistan’s constitution. 

Sharif’s statement is in contradiction with Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s announcement on July 16, in which he said Pakistan would not notify results of the latest census held in April and would hold the upcoming general elections based on the population count of 2017. 

The initial results of Pakistan’s digital census revealed in May 2023 that the South Asian country’s population had reached 249.5 million. Several political parties, including the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the southern Sindh province objected to the headcount in the province, while concerns were also raised over the results in the most backward Balochistan province in the country’s southwest. 

The Council of Common Interests (CCI), a constitutional body, has the prerogative to approve census results. Once the census is approved and published, the law states that elections are to be held on the basis of the latest published census.

“I think there is a [strong] possibility that the CCI would hold its meeting,” Sharif said in a recorded interview to a private news channel. “We have to head into elections based on the [results] of the new census. As soon as its results are finalized, we will take them to the CCI because it is a constitutional requirement and the census is a CCI subject,” he added. 

Sharif reiterated polls should be held based on the latest census results unless there is an “obstacle” that cannot be overcome. The prime minister, however, said such an obstacle does not exist. “Other than that, the ball will be in the Election Commission of Pakistan’s court,” he said. 

Population censuses have a huge impact on elections in Pakistan. Census results serve as the basis of allocation of National Assembly seats among the four provinces and Islamabad, according to Article 51(5) of the constitution. 

Once the National Assembly seats are allocated to the provinces, they are further apportioned among districts based on the population counted for each district.