Consensus on using provisional data for 2018 polls

IPCC paves way for CCI to take final decision on constitutional amendment<br />

ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) has reached consensus in principle on a constitutional amendment aimed at holding the upcoming general elections on provisional census results despite reservations by the provinces.

The step will pave the way for the formal decision to be taken by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which has the final say on the matter.

The IPCC met here on Thursday to resolve a host of issues smouldering between the Centre and the provinces for the past few years, including the Sixth Population and Housing Census, higher education and energy matters and implementation of Article 154 of the Constitution.



These matters were earlier placed before the CCI meeting on August 26. It was decided then that these issues would be deliberated upon at the IPCC level.

Thursday’s meeting was chaired by IPCC Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada. According to sources, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak attended the meeting but the other provinces were represented by senior bureaucrats, despite invitation to their chief ministers.

During the meeting, situation arising after the release of provisional census figures and the reservations expressed by the provinces over the data dominated the discussions.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad was of the view that the commission must have the census figures officially notified four months prior to holding the elections due in 2018.



He said the ECP needed final census data as well as digital maps along with description of areas and clearly-marked boundaries to revamp the national and provincial assembly constituencies. Fateh was concerned the ECP might not be able to obtain the final data by March next year.

The census was carried out in March this year. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) released the provisional data in the CCI meeting on August 26 but the declaration of the official results would take some time.

According to the Constitution, the coming election should take place in light of the new census. Otherwise, a constitutional amendment was required to use the provisional data. On Wednesday, the ECP secretary had expressed similar concerns in a Senate Committee meeting where he had urged senators to expedite the passage of The Elections Bill-2017.

The ECP is of the view that the delay in official census data would impede its ability to carry out delimitation, digital mapping and revamping the boundaries of constituencies.

The Constitution says, “The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.” Therefore, an amendment was required to add the word ‘provisionally’ so that the ECP could go ahead with the delimitation plans.



At the meeting, according to sources, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, as well as officials from Punjab and Sindh expressed reservations over the census data. The arguments on the matter lingered for over an hour. “Pirzada came to the rescue and reminded the provinces that it was an issue of national concern and there was no time for politicking,” said an IPC official present in the meeting.

At the end, however, the provinces agreed to go ahead with the provision of the constitutional amendment and referred the matter to the CCI for a final decision.

About the devolution of Higher Education Commission, it was decided that Sindh Education minister and the Sindh Higher Education Commission will meet Federal Education Minister Balighur Rehman. Sindh had previously objected to the role of the HEC in a CCI meeting. There was no consensus on issues of energy and implementation of Article 154 of Constitution.