ECP mulls delimitations issue today

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is likely to make a decision within the coming days regarding the delimitation timeframe of constituencies, sources said on Monday.

A crucial meeting will be held on Tuesday (today) with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, where the course of action will be discussed based on the statistics from the digital census. The meeting will be attended by four ECP members, the ECP secretary, the special secretary, and the legal team.

Sources reveal that the meeting will determine the duration required for the constituency delimitation process, as well as review all relevant aspects. Authorities will provide a briefing on the electoral constituencies during the meeting.

It may be noted here that a previous meeting on constituencies has already taken place.

A decision on the new constituencies is expected to be made within the next one to two days during Tuesday's consultation meeting, sources added.

Delimitation of constituencies, following the approval of the digital population census, is constitutionally mandated for the next general elections. Experts estimate that the process will take approximately three months.

According to Article 51(3) of the 1973 Constitution, "the seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each province and the federal capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published."

However, lawmakers have recently expressed concerns about potential delays in the general polls, particularly after the passage of legislation granting extraordinary powers to caretakers that extend beyond their normal duties.

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) ratified the 2023 census, making it highly likely that general elections will not take place this year due to the compulsory need for fresh delimitations.

The responsibility for conducting the polls has now been shifted to the ECP within the next three months by the previous coalition government.