ECP seeks early release of census results

Commission writes letter to ministries, PBS that it needs time to finish fresh delimitation

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has demanded the release of the results of the 7th Housing and Population Census by December 31 this year so that the process of fresh delimitation of constituencies could be completed in time, sources told The Express Tribune on Friday.

In a communiqué written to the parliamentary affairs and housing ministries and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the commission has written that it needed up to four months to finish the process.

The sources in the commission said the term of the current National Assembly as well as three provincial assemblies expires on August 12, 2023.

They added that the current Punjab Assembly would complete its tenure on August 14, 2023.

It was constitutionally mandatory to conduct fresh demarcation of constituencies after the census.

The voter lists also need to be revised after delimitation, the sources added.

The PBS was asked to submit the preliminary results of the seventh census by December 31 this year.

The final results of the census were to be submitted to the ECP by February 2023.

According to the PBS, the seventh census will start from August 1 this year.

Earlier, the commission had already written two letters for timely provision of census results, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the ECP has issued the schedule for the second phase of local government elections in Sindh. The elections will be held in Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta divisions.

Polling will be held on July 24 and nomination papers can be submitted from June 8 to 11. The final list of candidates will be posted on June 28.

Separately, it emerged on Friday that for local government elections in Balochistan, delimitation of Quetta and Lasbela constituencies has been completed.

According to the new zoning, 84 wards have been created in the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation. 108 union councils (UCs) and 55 wards have been set up in rural areas of Quetta district.

Lasbela district has five municipal committees and one municipal corporation hub. 98 wards have been set up there as well. Now there are 32 UCs in rural areas of Lasbela district with 186 wards.

On April 26, the ECP had already hinted that the country might not be able to go to polls before May 2023 as certain undertakings -- including the census and delimitation -- remained to be carried out.

In a press release issued by the body's Media Coordination and Outreach Wing, the ECP had said that the PBS informed the commission on April 18 that the seventh population and housing census would start from August 1 and its results would be provided to the commission on December 31.

In that case, the statement had read, the delimitation of the constituencies being carried out on the basis of the 2017 census would be irrelevant, as the ECP would be bound by the Constitution to start work on constituencies anew from January 1 next year, which would require at least four months to complete.

Similarly, electoral rolls would also be updated because the statistical block codes would be added and their boundaries would change during the new census.

However, the ECP had said that the ongoing work on the delimitation of the constituencies would continue as per schedule.

It is pertinent to note here that the PTI had earlier this month approached the Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the delimitation schedule announced by the ECP on April 11 was ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’.

The petition, drafted by Advocates Faisal Chaudhry and Fawad Chaudhry, had also requested the apex court to order the ECP and secretary to ensure the upcoming electoral process was in accordance with law and the Constitution and without wasting any time or creating delay.

In response, the commission had issued a statement seeking to clarify that it was discharging its constitutional and legal responsibilities with complete impartiality and would continue to do so without any pressure or persuasion.

The commission had added that the references for disqualification of dissident members of PTI, delimitation of constituencies and the foreign funding cases were in process.