Islamabad [Pakistan], September 1 : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday said that the delimitation process will be finalised by November 30, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. The ECP's decision comes after it held a number of consultations with the political parties.
In the statement, the electoral watchdog said the purpose of reducing the duration of the delimitation process is to ensure polls are held as early as possible, the report said.
The ECP announced that a date for the elections will be announced considering the schedule for the delimitation process. It further said that the date was announced after discussions with the parties.
On August 31, the Election Commission of Pakistan said that the elections will be held by mid-February at the most or by January end if the delimitation of constituencies is conducted earlier, according to Geo News report.
Pakistan's electoral watchdog has held meetings with political parties including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Muttahida Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Jamiat Ulema Islam-Faiz (JUI-F) and others regarding the road map to hold general polls.
During those meetings, the JUI-F, PML-N and MQM-P supported the ECP to hold general elections after the delimitation. Meanwhile, PTI and PPP called on ECP to not undertake the process and hold elections within 90 days.
Earlier on August 17, the ECP said that the schedule of new delimitation will be conducted as per the new census approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI), Geo News reported.
As per the schedule, the new delimitation of the constituencies was expected to be completed in December. However, the ECP has now said that the delimitation will be completed by November 30. According to the earlier schedule released by the ECP, the fresh delimitation would take nearly four months.
In August, the CCI meeting chaired by Pakistan's then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave approval to the final results of the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023 and revealed that Pakistan's population is 241.49 million with a growth rate of 2.55 per cent, according to Geo News report.
The CCI's decision made it constitutionally mandatory for Pakistan's electoral body to conduct polls after fresh delimitations. Earlier in August, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government dissolved the national and provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan prematurely to allow the ECP to conduct polls in the country within 90 days.
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