ISLAMABAD: The election of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies likely to be delayed the new housing and population census is completed.
According to sources, the government has been considering over delay in the “elections and by-elections” of the two provincial assemblies until results of the new housing and population census are compiled.
It is to be mentioned here that the new housing and population census is scheduled to be started from February 1st, which will continue till March 31. “The results of new census will be released in April this year,” sources informed.
The sources claimed that the government wants to refer the issue of postponing the elections to the court, with a view to avoid backlash.
Recently, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal had said that general elections in Pakistan are only possible after the population census and consequent delimitation of the constituencies.
“Imran Khan himself had decided in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) in April 2021, that the new elections would be held only after new population census,” Iqbal said.
He said that the census results would be published by April 30, following which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will start delimitation exercise which will take up to four months to be completed.
ECP reviews preparations for Punjab and KP elections
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday considered over preparations for the elections and by-election of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
In this regard, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a meeting wherein he was briefed that the election commission has completed preparations for electoral material, polling stations and voter lists.
The session was informed that the electoral body was prepared to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The meeting decided to contact governors of the two provinces to fix polling date for election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The ECP decided to issue the election schedule after decision on the polling day.
The meeting was directed to step up preparations for elections and early completion of the process of appointment of presiding officers and other election staff.
The session was attended by the election commission’s members, provincial election commissioners and officials from all wings of the ECP.
