ISLAMABAD: On Wednesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that rumors that the next general elections would be held later than planned were “baseless and misleading.”
Reports in some parts of the media that the polls would be delayed were strongly rejected by an ECP spokesperson.
The spokesman said that the claims that the commission hadn’t made the voter lists yet were completely false.
He also said that the ECP had chosen to ask the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to find the people spreading these “lies” so that they could be charged with a crime.
The spokesperson said that transcripts and videos of news shows on different channels had to be given to the ECP. After that, an application would be made to Pemra to take action against those who were found to be spreading the rumors.
The ECP spokesman, on the other hand, said that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) was printing the final, up-to-date voter lists that would be used in the next general election.
Adding to that, he said that these voter lists were already being sent out in some areas. The Supreme Court stepped in at the beginning of this month and helped the ECP and President Dr. Arif Alvi agree on February 8 as the date for the next general election.
Isa, Chief Justice, stressed that all institutions need to be mature and understand each other. The state-run APP said that the ECP would share the final list of constituencies based on the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 on Thursday, which is today. This is earlier than planned.
A spokesperson for the ECP said that concerns about the new seats for the National Assembly and four regional legislatures were discussed and resolved on November 22.
From November 1, the committee began to look into the complaints about the new districts. The ECP heard 1,324 complaints about the new seats from all over the country. These came from 672 people in Punjab, 228 people in Sindh, 293 people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 124 people in Balochistan, and 7 people in Islamabad.
According to the country’s first-ever digital census, the ECP said they were done making new districts and that the upcoming general elections would be based on them.
