The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday indicated that holdinggeneral elections may not be possible before May 2023 as it outlined thetimeline of processes — including the census and delimitation — that itsaid must be conducted before the country can go to polls.
In a press release issued by the body’s Media Coordination and OutreachWing, the commission said that it had received a letter from the PakistanBureau of Statistics (PBS) on April 18 stating that the seventh populationand housing census would be initiated from August 1.
According to the statement, the ECP would be provided the results of thefresh census on December 31.
In such a scenario, the delimitation of constituencies being conducted bythe ECP on the basis of the 2017 census would become “irrelevant” and theelectoral watchdog would be bound by the Constitution to start the processanew from January 1, 2023 — which would require at least four months.
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“Similarly, electoral lists will also need to be reviewed,” the pressrelease added.
