ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday continued to hold consultations with Pakistani political parties on general elections due in November but widely expected to be delayed as the regulator must first draw fresh constituency boundaries based on the results of a new population census.

On Friday, the regulator met with representatives of ex-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party, which led the last coalition government whose term ended earlier this month. The meeting was part of consultations on general elections that the ECP is holding with all major political parties.

Under the constitution, general elections must be held within 90 days after the National Assembly’s dissolution, meaning they would be due in November since parliament was dissolved on Aug. 9. However, the outgoing Sharif government’s decision to approve the results of the 2023 digital census before it dissolved the Assembly means the election regulator is now constitutionally bound to redraw hundreds of constituencies under the new population figures and set an election date after that process is complete. 

The ECP has said it will be able to delimit federal and provincial constituencies by December 14, which puts off elections until at least February.

“Providing the census result to the election commission means that the constitution binds it to hold delimitation as per the latest notified census results,” PMLN leader and former planning commission Ahsan Iqbal told reporters after meeting ECP officials in Islamabad. “This was a consensus decision [of the outgoing government].”

“The process [of redrawing of constituencies] should be completed as per the constitution to ensure elections are held as early as possible,” he said.

To a question about an election date, former law minister Azam Nazir Tarar, another senior PMLN leader, said the process of delimitation could be completed before December 14 and then as per the Elections Act, the ECP would give 54 days to political parties for campaigning.

Speaking about suggestions the PMLN delegation had made before election commission officials, Iqbal said they had urged the regulator to ensure the registration of women voters and ensure their full participation in the electoral process.

Iqbal said the party had also asked the ECP to start fresh voter registration and complete it simultaneously with the delimitation of constituencies by December 14:

“The ECP should ensure the same voter lists should be available to candidates and at the polling stations [on the election day] to avoid any confusion.”

Iqbal said the PMLN expressed concerns during the meeting about transparency of polls based on the 2018 election experience where there were widespread accusations of rigging.

“The election commission assured us they are working on an automated system which will help in monitoring and transparency of the polls,” Iqbal said.

He also said the party had requested the regulator “to launch an effective system to monitor hate speech” during election campaigns.