ECP to finalise constituencies by Nov 30

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that it would be reducing the time required to complete the delimitation of constituencies and that its publication would now be final by Nov 30.

"To complete the consultation and feedback process with political parties and delimitation of constituencies as early as possible, the ECP has further reduced the timeframe for delimitations," a statement released by the supervisory body read.

"Now, the final publication of constituencies will be on November 30, 2023. The purpose of reducing the duration of delimiting constituencies is to ensure holding elections as soon as possible.”

The statement also added that under the purview of the revised date for the finalisation of constituencies "the election schedule will also be announced".

The statement was issued after the ECP summoned an emergency meeting following discussions with different stakeholders.

The election body had of late conducted back-to-back meetings with officials of different political parties to take into stock their position regarding elections and delimitation, among other things.

In this key meeting, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in Islamabad, the ECP deliberated on how it could reduce the time period for completing the delimitation process.

Meeting with GDA

Earlier, the ECP held a consultative meeting with the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), discussing a roadmap for the upcoming elections.

The meeting, chaired by CEC Raja, saw the participation of GDA members, including Fehmida Mirza, Safdar Abbasi, Kashif Nazamani and Ibn Muhammad.

Sardar Abdul Rahim and Irfanullah Khan Marwat, party leaders, also joined the meeting through video link.
According to a handout issued by the electoral body, the GDA delegation expressed full support for the ECP's delimitation plan, emphasising that delimitation was crucial for transparent polls.

The delegation urged the completion of the delimitation process soon and that elections be held after the new exercise.

The delegation also stressed the importance of revising electoral lists to ensure accurate registration, correction, and deletion of votes.

Further, the GDA expressed concern over the non-compliance of the interim chief ministers with the CEC's letters regarding the transfers of provincial officers as ordered by the ECP.

Another issue raised by the GDA delegation was the appointment of impartial officials as returning officers (RO).
They suggested the appointment of district election commissioners and officials from federal services as ROs, urging the ECP to announce the election schedule only after these arrangements were completed.

The GDA also acknowledged the ECP's prepared "action plan", emphasising its strict adherence.

They proposed suspending all municipal administrations until the election and appointing administrators to ensure transparency.

CEC Raja affirmed that conducting transparent elections in accordance with the law and the Constitution was the commission's responsibility.

He assured the delegation that the ECP took their input seriously and would decide on the suggestions based on legal and constitutional considerations.

He stated that the election schedule would be announced after further shortening the duration of the delimitation process.

A day earlier, the ECP had vowed to expedite the delimitation of constituencies and announce a schedule for the upcoming general polls thereafter, alleviating concerns that the ballot could be deferred for an indefinite period to extend the rule of the interim government.

The election supervisor gave assurance to the delegations of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in separate consultative meetings at the ECP Secretariat in the federal capital.

The meetings with these parties came in the backdrop of the ECP ruling out elections this year.

Earlier this week, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) provided the required data for the digital census 2023 to the polls supervisory body.

The digital census was conducted in March-May this year. The results were published after their approval from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Aug 5, just days before the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Following the approval of the census, the ECP was bound to conduct the upcoming general polls on the basis of the latest census whereas it had already announced a schedule for revamping the constituencies.

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had dissolved the National Assembly on Aug 9, three days ahead of its mandated period. The 90-day limit for the ECP to hold elections under the Constitution ends on Nov 9.

On Aug 17, the election supervisor announced that it would revamp all the national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies in light of the digital census within 120 days.

On the other hand, with the apex court having dismissed the ECP’s review petition against its April 4 order of holding polls for the Punjab Assembly on May 14, pressure is mounting on the electoral body either to hold the general elections within 90 days or to approach the court to seek guidance on the question of conducting new delimitation based on the 7th Population Census.