ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had many talks with the major parties, declared on Friday that the delimitation process will be completed by November 30.
The electoral board stated in a statement that the goal of shortening the delimitation process’s duration is to guarantee that elections are held as soon as feasible.
The ECP added that the election date was chosen following consultation with the parties and that it will be notified in accordance with the timeline for the delimitation process.
The Election Commission had previously stated that voting would take place by the end of January, or maybe as early as mid-February if the delineation of seats was finished earlier.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Muttahida Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamiat Ulema Islam-Faiz (JUI-F), and other political parties have held consultations with the Election Commission regarding the roadmap leading up to general elections.
The PTI and PPP urged the electoral watchdog to abandon the procedure and hold elections within 90 days, while the JUI-F, PML-N, and MQM-P supported the ECP in holding general elections following the delimitation.
The Council of Common Interest (CCI) last month approved a new census, and the ECP announced on August 17 the schedule of new delimitations to be conducted in accordance with those results.
The revised delimitation of the constituencies was scheduled to be finished in December. However, November has been changed as the new date.
The ECP timeline had already predicted that the new delimitation would take over four months.
The official findings of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023, which were approved last month by the CCI meeting presided over by the country’s former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, showed that the population of the nation was 241.49 million, with a growth rate of 2.55%.
Following new delimitations in light of the findings of the 7th census, the ECP was legally required by the CCI authorisation to hold elections.
