The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday informed President Dr Arif Alvi that elections could be held in October as it would require another four months to complete the process of delimitation of constituencies.
Earlier, the president had asked the ECP to propose dates for holding general elections in the country.
The president’s letter to the ECP had stated that under Article 48(5)(A) and Article 224(2) of the Constitution, the president has to appoint a date, not later than 90 days from the date of dissolution of the National Assembly, for holding general elections
In its reply, the ECP said it is an ” independent [and] constitutional entity, entrusted with the sacred duty of organising and conducting elections in terms of Article 218(3) of the Constitution and to make such arrangements which are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against”.
It also requested the president to schedule meetings with the ECP for further deliberations on holding elections.
The ECP said that delimitation is one of the foundation steps toward general elections, adding that work on the delimitation process was halted due to the delay from the government.
It pointed out that the number of National Assembly constituencies has reduced from 272 to 266 after the merger of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the reduction of seats in tribal areas from 12 to six.
The ECP said that these circumstances demand fresh delimitation, which is not possible in the absence of official census results.
It said the chief election commissioner had written a letter to Imran Khan on May 7, 2020, inviting his attention to the issue and seeking his intervention to get the official results notified.
The commission said that it had also written letters to other relevant quarters including the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs as well as secretaries of the Senate, National Assembly, and the Bureau of Statistics.
The process of delimitation finally began after the official census results were notified on May 7, 2021, but it was stopped after the government announced that it would go for the fresh digital census, the ECP said, adding that the commission had also written letters to the government on December 30, 2021, and January 21, 2022, urging it to expedite the census process, which, it said, went unheeded.
The ECP said it is not the sole authority to make with regards to the conduct of elections and remains dependent, under the law, upon federal and provincial government for “required feedback”.
“In case of any delay on the part of any government to perform its duties and to assist the commission, the delay in conduct of delimitation cannot be attributed to the commission by any stretch of imagination,” the electoral watchdog maintained.
