The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to speed up the process of redrawing the electoral constituencies, with a goal to wrap it up by 30 November 2023.
The move is a bit controversial as it goes against the Constitution, which states that elections must be conducted within 90 days after the assemblies are dissolved. However, the ECP is trying to calm down concerns about further potential delays in the election.
In a recent press release, the ECP stated that it is shortening the delimitation timeframe to hold elections as soon as possible. It also added that this new deadline will be considered when planning the election schedule. This decision came after consultations with political parties.
Despite the 90-day limit for holding polls ending on November 9, as stipulated by Article 224 of the Constitution, the ECP had initially ruled out elections this year.
This was due to the upcoming publication of the 2023 digital census results and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act, which mandates the redrawing of constituencies following the official publication of each census.
ECP had earlier planned to finish the delimitation process by 14 December, which would have been over a month past the constitutionally required deadline for holding general elections.
