ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election regulator on Thursday issued a notification stating that the delimitation of hundreds of federal and provincial constituencies would be finalized by December 14, effectively confirming polls would not be held in the country within 90 days of the dissolution of assemblies.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolved Pakistan’s National Assembly on August 9, providing the caretaker government, as per the constitution, 90 days from the date of dissolution of the assemblies in the country to hold general elections.
However, analysts widely feared the ballot would be delayed beyond 90 days as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), after the approval of the results of the latest census, has to first draw new boundaries for hundreds of federal and provincial constituencies and set an election date based on that.
“In pursuance of Article 51 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, the Election Commission of Pakistan has been pleased to approve the following schedule for carrying out delimitation of constituencies afresh in accordance with the official results of 7th Population and Housing Census 2023,” the ECP said in its notification, a copy of which was seen by Arab News.
As per the notification, the election regulator said it would publish the final list of the delimitations by December 14. After that, the ECP would announce the schedule for elections in Pakistan.
The development takes place a day after former PM Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wrote to Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, urging him to hold elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies.
PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi wrote to the caretaker prime minister that the issue of fresh delimitations could not be taken as a pretext to delay elections as the timeline contained in the constitution is “clear and cannot be stretched.”
