ECP to release preliminary constituency list on Wednesday

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to unveil its preliminary roster of new electoral constituencies derived from the digital census 2023 on Wednesday.

Despite the initial release date set for October 10, the commission wrapped up its work 15 days ahead of schedule. Consequently, on Tuesday, the preliminary lists have been handed over to the ECP for publication.

Meanwhile, objections to the constituency designations will be entertained until October 26, with hearings scheduled to commence by November 25.

The final lists are slated for release on November 30, after which the ECP has already confirmed that polls will take place in the last week of January 2024.

Read More: Fresh delimitation vital for true representation: ECP

Earlier, the ECP 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.”

Read More: ECP urged to delimit constituencies of equal population

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.