Islamabad, 11 Aug, 2023 (GNP): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has 90 days to carry out the general election as the National Assembly dissolved on Thursday.
The ECP is unable to give any date before conducting the delimitation of constituencies according to the digital census, but the results of the census are yet to be provided to it.
As per the official sources, “We are yet to receive data of 186,509 census blocs, and thrash out a timeline for carrying out delimitation, a constitutional requirement, though we have received district-wise data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics already.”
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Reportedly, in the upcoming week, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) would finalize the collected data and share it with the ECP. The ECP would then need approximately four months to conduct the delimitation of constituencies appropriately and address objections regarding them.
The Council of Common Interests (CCI), a constitutional forum, ratified the result of the first-ever digital census on 5 August and the ECP led its first formal meeting on this matter.
Moreover, the second phase after the census i.e. conducting delimitation has been authorized. The ECP has consulted and also got a comprehensive demonstration from its legal team but before carrying out general elections, acquiring complete data from the bureau is necessary to draw a timeline for its legal responsibilities.
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However, the approach of census results has generated assumptions, specifically in political and constitutional circles.
The time is now running out for the constitutional body to take the significant step of delimitation, which demands 90 days along with 30 days for resolving the objections and complaints associated with it as the National Assembly has dissolved on 10 August.
A senior official said, “The time factor is crucially important and if the bureau provides complete census results to the Election Commission by August 14 or 15 (Tuesday or Wednesday), the commission would be left with 85 or 86 days to conduct delimitation.”
