ISLAMABAD: The electoral entity has finally announced that the general elections in the country would be held in the last week of January 2024 — what implies to be an admittance that the poll body would fail not only to hold the general polls timely but this year at least.
In a meeting held to review the ongoing delimitation drive, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided on Thursday that a 54-day election schedule would be issued after the completion of the delimitation of constituencies of the assemblies. This exercise is scheduled to complete on November 30, and that the elections would be held in the last week of January.
The conduct of general elections in the last week of the coming January means that the polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be held more than a year after the dissolution of the two provincial assemblies.
Punjab Assembly was dissolved on January 14 and KP Assembly on January 18 this year.
The National Assembly was dissolved on August 9, Sindh Assembly on August 11 and Balochistan Assembly was dissolved on August 12.
Constitutionally, keeping in view the NA dissolution date, the cut-off date to hold the general elections within the 90-day period is November 7 this year.
Article 224(2) of the Constitution provides that when the NA or a provincial assembly is dissolved, a general election to the assembly shall be held within a period of 90 days after the dissolution, and the results of the election shall be declared not later than 14 days after the conclusion of the polls.
With criticism mounting on ECP over delay in holding the general elections, the electoral organisation, earlier on Wednesday, invited the political parties for consultations over proposed code of conduct for the general polls on October 4.
This is the second time in less than a month that the poll entity has invited the political parties for consultations over issues involving general elections.
Last month, the ECP held separate meetings with political parties to discuss the matters related to general polls. In these meetings, several political parties lambasted the ECP for launching the controversial drive to delimit the constituencies of the assemblies without taking any political party on board.
It was only after the commission faced massive criticism that it announced to revise the completion of delimitation drive from December 14 to November 30.
Mainstream political parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Awami National Party (ANP) have categorically supported timely polls’ demand.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023