General election in Pakistan likely to be conducted based on last census: Report

ISLAMABAD: The upcoming general election is most likely to be conducted on the basis of the delimitation exercise that was carried out and published in August last year, Pakistan-based The News International reported. The post-enumeration will begin on July 8 and there are plans to present a report to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) by July 31.

The digital census was conducted for the first time in Pakistan. However, so far, it is not clear when it will be published, the report said. Although there is no exact date for the elections. However, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan People's Party have initiated plans for seat adjustment in the upcoming polls.

A Pakistan federal minister who wished not to be quoted said, "Frankly, there has been no threadbare deliberations in recent weeks hitherto with regard to the next general election, but the officially stated positions remain unchanged that the nation will go to polls in October," according to The News International.

He said that the coalition government will not make any constitutional violation with regards to the nationwide exercise and it will be happy even if polls are held according to the delimitation conducted last time. However, some other cabinet ministers in the statements said that the general election will be held based on fresh limitations after completing the related process and indeed in that case, the polls will face a delay.

He further said, "The delimitation exercise needs four months and even if the time is squeezed to minimum to three months, even then, chances of elections conducted on the basis of fresh delimitation are very slim," he maintained and added there are great chances the last year's delimitation would be followed," according to The News International report.

The ECP official said that the final published data under Article 51(5) of the Constitution and Section 17 (2) of the Elections Act, 2017, was required for the purpose of delimitation of constituencies and the commission was bound to begin delimiting constituencies once the census result is officially published.

Seats in the National Assembly are allotted to each province and federal territory based on the population under Article-51(3) of the Constitution according to the last census which is published. However, he said that a constitutional amendment will have to be made after the publication of census results, which is now technically impossible after the resignation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers.

He further said considering the given circumstances, the commission will be left with no other option but to hold the upcoming general election on the basis of the last delimitation.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked political parties to submit their applications for the allotment of election symbols before the general polls in the country, expected to be held after October, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. The ECP said that the applications can be submitted with the signature of the party leader until July 19. The electoral watchdog further said that the signature of the party leader on the application is a must.

The ECP said, "Every application must include the address of the head office of the political party," according to Geo News report. It further said that it will check the eligibility of the party after they get applications. The electoral watchdog asked parties to resubmit applications that they have given for the polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in February.