The election commission stated in a statement that after reviewing the work done on constituency delimitation, it was decided that the initial list for constituency delimitation will be published on September 27.
The commission announced that the final list would be released on November 30 following the hearing of concerns and ideas regarding the exercise. It stated that after a 54-day election campaign, voting would take place in the final week of January.
Before finalizing the rules of the game, the ECP claims that a draft code of conduct has been distributed to political parties for their input.
According to the draft code, political parties, candidates running for office, and election workers are not allowed to spread ideas that are harmful to Pakistan’s ideology, its sovereignty, integrity, or security, its morality or public order, its judiciary’s independence or independence, or that disparage or make fun of any government institution, including the judicial system and the armed forces.
Elections this year had been ruled out by the ECP due to the requirement for a new delineation of seats in light of the notification of the most recent digital census in 2023.
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Article 224 of the Constitution requires elections to be held by November 7 within 90 days after the National Assembly’s dissolution because it was dissolved three days before the end of its constitutional term.
The Elections Act, however, also says in Section 17(2) that “the commission shall delimit constituencies after every census is officially published.”
Political parties expressed varying opinions about the date of elections during the most recent round of consultations with the ECP, with some emphasising the need for new delineations while others, most notably the PTI and PPP, called for elections to be held within the constitutional time period.
In the meantime, President Alvi had last month requested a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja to “fix an appropriate date” for general elections.
In his letter to the CEC, the president cited Article 244 of the Constitution to assert that, in the event that the National Assembly were to be prematurely dissolved, it was his job to arrange for elections to be held within the allotted 90 days.
However, a recent change to the Elections Act of 2017 gave the ECP the authority to declare the election dates on its own, without first consulting the president.
The CEC replied to the president that it would be of “scant importance” to take part in a meeting with him to choose the election date, citing this amendment to the law.
The president then asked the law ministry for advice on the topic, and the ministry informed the president that the ECP had the authority to declare the polling date.
The president suggested that elections be held by November 6 in a letter to the CEC earlier this month, citing constitutional constraints.
The letter was written in response to rumors that the president might announce the election’s date on his own. Analysts, however, claimed that the missive was only a recommendation and not a pronouncement of the election date, in contrast to the aforementioned stories.
