The Election Commission of Pakistan told President Arif Alvi on Thursday that it is impossible to hold a general election in three months as scheduled due to the ongoing delimitation of electoral districts, and proposed that they be held in October
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2022) The Election Commission of Pakistan told President Arif Alvi on Thursday that it is impossible to hold a general election in three months as scheduled due to the ongoing delimitation of electoral districts, and proposed that they be held in October.
New parliamentary elections in Pakistan were scheduled to be held 90 days after the dissolution of the parliament, which took place last Sunday.
"The Election Commission, though fully committed to holding elections, would however require at least four additional months to complete the exercise of delimitation. Elections could safely be held honestly justly fairly as ordained in Article 18(3) of the constitution in October 2022," the commission said in a letter to Alvi, as quoted by Pakistani broadcaster Geo news.
The commission stressed that the delimitation of electoral districts is one of the fundamental requirements of holding elections.
"According to Article 51(5) of the Constitution and Section 17 of Elections Act, 2017, delimitation of Constituencies is conducted on the basis of population in accordance with the last census officially published," the commission added, as quoted by the broadcaster.
The commission recalled that the preliminary results of the sixth national census in 2017, released in January 2018, allowed it to delineate national and provincial assemblies "one-time" through a constitutional amendment.
The commission also said it had suspended the delimitation process after the government announced a new online census. The commission is currently discussing the issue with the Pakistani Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the broadcaster said.
Last Sunday, Alvi dissolved the Pakistani parliament at the request of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The prime minister made the proposal minutes after parliament's deputy speaker, Qasim Suri, rejected a motion of no confidence in Khan as unconstitutional. The decision to cancel the no confidence vote angered opposition parties, which challenged the waiver in a court.
