Doubt on election dates in Pakistan ends, delimitation process will be completed by November 30

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said it plans to complete the delimitation of constituencies for the national and provincial assemblies by 30 November. Pakistan-based daily Dawn said the decision allows the ECP to hold general elections in the last week of January 2024, with possible dates being January 28 or February 4 if there are any other practical difficulties. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja took the decision to reduce the time required to complete the delimitation process. However, if the Pakistan Supreme Court intervenes and directs the delimitation process to be canceled and general elections to be held in 90 days to meet the constitutional requirement, the elections will be held earlier.

A senior official told Dawn that we will comply (with the Supreme Court order). According to legal experts from Pakistan who spoke to the newspaper, the ECP may have to work with the apex court instead of taking decisions on its own. He pointed to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of an ECP petition seeking review of a judgment in a case relating to the holding of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the dissolution of two provincial assemblies.

General elections are to be held in Pakistan within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was dissolved on August 9 before the end of its term. There were apprehensions that the general election might be delayed as the delimitation process might take about four months. The commission had announced last month that it would complete the delimitation process by December 14 and elections would be held after that.