The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Friday that it would reduce the time needed to delimit constituencies and publish by Nov. 30.
“To complete the consultation and feedback process with political parties and delimitation of constituencies as early as possible, the ECP has further reduced the timeframe for delimitations,” the supervisory body said.
“On November 30, 2023, constituencies will be published last. Reducing constituency delimitation time ensures early elections.”
The announcement said that “the election schedule will also be announced” under the new constituency finalization deadline.
After stakeholder talks, the ECP called an emergency meeting and issued the statement.
The election authority recently met with officials of several political parties to assess their views on elections and delimitation.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired this crucial meeting in Islamabad where the ECP discussed ways to speed up the delimitation process.
Meeting with GDA
The ECP and GDA discussed an electoral roadmap earlier.
CEC Raja convened the meeting, which included GDA members Fehmida Mirza, Safdar Abbasi, Kashif Nazamani, and Ibn Muhammad.
Party leaders Sardar Abdul Rahim and Irfanullah Khan Marwat joined the gathering via video.
According to an electoral authority handout, the GDA delegation supported the ECP’s delimitation plan, emphasizing its importance for transparent elections.
The delegation demanded that delimitation be completed quickly and elections immediately afterward.
The delegation underlined the significance of upgrading election lists for accurate registration, rectification, and deletion of votes.
The GDA also noted the interim chief ministers’ failure to comply with the CEC’s letters ordering provincial officer transfers as directed by the ECP.
The GDA delegation also questioned the nomination of impartial returning officers.
They advised district election commissioners and federal officials as ROs and that the ECP announce the election timetable when these arrangements were made.
The GDA also praised the ECP’s “action plan” for its strictness.
For openness, they suggested suspending local administrations until the election and installing administrators.
CEC Raja stated that the commission was responsible for transparent elections in conformity with the law and Constitution.
He informed the group that the ECP will evaluate their ideas based on legal and constitutional factors.
He said the poll schedule would be announced after shortening the delimitation procedure.
A day earlier, the ECP promised to speed constituency delimitation and declare a general election timeline, allaying concerns that the ballot could be delayed indefinitely to extend the interim government’s authority.
The election supervisor reassured the PPP, PML-Q, and TLP representatives in separate consultation meetings at the ECP Secretariat in the federal capital.
These parties met after the ECP ruled out elections this year.
The polls supervising committee received digital census 2023 data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) this week.
The March-May digital census was conducted this year. The Council of Common Interests (CCI) approved the results on August 5, days before the National Assembly was dissolved.
The ECP was required to hold the next general elections on the basis of the current census, even though it had already established a constituency remodelling timeline.
On August 9, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif dissolved the National Assembly three days early. The Constitutional 90-day period for ECP elections ends on Nov. 9.
In light of the digital census, the election supervisor said on August 17 that it would rebuild all national and provincial assembly constituencies within 120 days.
However, after the apex court dismissed the ECP’s review petition against its April 4 order to hold Punjab Assembly polls on May 14, pressure is mounting on the electoral body to hold the general elections within 90 days or seek guidance on new delimitation based on the 7th Population Census.
