ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs Senator Taj Haider has expressed concern over reports that the Bureau of Statistics would be unable to complete the 7th census before the fixed date of Dec 31.

Talking to reporters, he said this delay would disable the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out their constitutional responsibility of the allocation of seats in the National Assembly to each province on the basis of its actual population and to carry out delimitation of national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies in all provinces.

Senator Haider pointed out that the Council of Common Interests’ majority decision to validate the faulty figures of the 6th census was conditional to holding a fresh and accurate census in the country. A time line for completing the fresh census was also specified in the CCI decision.

It was unacceptable that only the controversial and harmful part of the CCI decision should be implemented and the agreed and the beneficial part is ignored and bypassed. Such unjust and discriminatory actions cut at the root of the country’s federal system and weaken the federation by creating mistrust, he added.

One fails to understand the reason for not including any representative from Sindh in the advisory group made by the Bureau of Statistics for making a working paper for the 7th census, the PPP senator said.

While most of the persons responsible for the controversial 6th census were included in the advisory group, Dr Mehtab Karim’s name from Sindh was included only after the working paper had been finalised and after strong protest from Sindh on his exclusion. There certainly is method behind this madness, he said.

Senator Taj Haider reminded that before the 24th Amendment was passed in the Senate, all political parties represented in the house had signed an agreement which had specified a recount methodology for correcting the controversial figures of the 6th census.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022