ISLAMABAD:
Senator Raza Rabbani, former chairman of the Senate and a prominent member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), said on Sunday that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should address rumors of a possible election postponement.
Pakistan’s population has reached 241.49 million, with a growth rate of 2.55%, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), which was authorized yesterday by a unanimous vote of the Council of Common Interest (CCI).
All provincial premiers, three federal ministers, and prominent figures from allied parties were invited to the 50th meeting of the CCI, which was presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
If the legislatures are dissolved on August 9, three days before the end of their term, the CCI decision will certainly cause a postponement in general elections scheduled for November of this year. Some analysts estimate that it could take up to four months to redefine electoral districts after a census.
Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar made the implication in an interview with a private news program.
For more, read “Supreme Court skewers ECP’s stance on Punjab election.”
After the unanimous decision of CCI, the timing of delimitation is up to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Tarar remarked.
The law minister made reference to Article 51 of the Constitution, saying that national elections are based on population as of the most recent official census.
Rabbani made these remarks today on the Senate floor: “There is a fear of delay in the election after the approval of the census,” he said, adding that “according to the Constitution, elections must be held within 60 to 90 days [after the government completes its terms].”
His words, “The ECP must break its silence on the matter,” came as he urged the watchdog to speed up the time it takes to delimit constituencies.
“The federation will be destroyed if polls are delayed,” he said.
House Leader and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also spoke up, claiming, “The Balochistan chief minister was present in the meeting,” in defense of the digital census.
“The census was approved by consensus of all provinces,” he stressed. “Everyone can look at all digital census records,” he continued.
According to Dar, “the decision to conduct an online consensus before the elections was approved by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government,” and he informed the upper chamber that Rs34 billion had been spent on the endeavor.
As Dar spoke, senators raised their voices in opposition, drowning out his words.
Fears of a poll delay have been stoked by the census’s go-ahead.
However, senators from the PTI complained that they were denied a chance to address the chamber. Senator Afnanullah of the PML-N also took part in the demonstration.
JUI-F During his discussion on the issue, Senator Kamran Murtaza emphasized that the “census was approved four days before the end of the PTI government.”
According to the most recent census, 6.4 million people no longer live in Balochistan. What message are we sending to the people of the province,” he questioned, criticizing the government for certifying the findings.
He said, “Those who approved the census results yesterday are the ones who are responsible for the plight of Balochistan.” He then stormed out of the house.
In response to Murtaza’s criticism, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar stated, “his party’s parliamentary leader was present in the [CCI] meeting as well.”
He went on to say that while “various political parties had objections to the 2017 census,” the decision to go to a digital census was made in January of 2022. The census should be approved without any ill will.
He then offered to share the data, saying, “Data was also collected through satellites with the help of Sparco,” in an effort to allay his coworkers’ concerns about the accuracy of the census.
He also stated the ECP was on the hook for finishing up the delimitation of the constituencies. “We don’t want delay in the election,” he said.
