ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is expected to decide the time frame for a fresh delimitation of constituencies following the approval of the final results of the first-ever digital census today (Tuesday), a senior ECP official told Dawn.

He said the commission will see if it is possible to compress the timeline to hold elections within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9 — three days prior to the expiry of its term.

An important meeting of the ECP was held on Monday with Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to chalk out the course of action in the light of the statistics of the officially results of the digital census. The meeting, besides four ECP members, was also attended by secretary ECP, special secretary ECP and legal team.

The commission, after deliberations, directed the legal team to provide guidance on how to proceed in the light of the law and the constitution today (Tuesday).

Discusses census-based actions within legal framework; sets 10-day deadline for scrutiny reports on PML-N, PPP foreign funding

The commission also asked its scrutiny committee to submit reports of foreign funding of PML-N and PPP in next ten days. “This should be taken as a final deadline,” the commission said.

The commission also directed the law wing to approach different courts for early hearings and decisions on all the private complaints pending before them.

The meeting took place a day after a PPP senator asked the commission to break its silence over the issue of delimitation amidst rumours about delayed polls, and plan to install caretakers for a longer time.

Lawmakers have been voicing concerns over plans to delay general polls in recent days, particularly after the passage of legislation giving extraordinary powers to caretakers, extending beyond their normal day-to-day duties. Just a day after the Council of Common Interests (CCI) ratified the 2023 census, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held this year due to the compulsory need for fresh delimitations, the federal government on Sunday shifted the responsibility of conducting polls to the ECP within the next three months.

The ECP had in the recent past declared that conducting polls on fresh delimitation were not possible and that the exercise would require four to six months. The CCI approved the census results on Sunday, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held this year.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2023