Islamabad, Pakistan (CU)_ According to the latest media reports, Pakistan’s electoral commission is planning to hold general elections as early as October, which is one year ahead of the planned schedule. According to media sources, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finished the delimitation of seats and resolved any objections regarding them. The sources said, “Work has been completed in all constituencies for all national and provincial seats”.
The election commission had previously informed the Supreme Court that it would finish the delimitation of constituencies by August 4. According to a source, the ECP will disclose the list of voters and constituencies by the end of August. The most recent general election was conducted in July 2018, and the current National Assembly of Pakistan will serve until October 2023.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which consists of major parties in the ruling coalition, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), announced last week that the next general elections will be conducted next year as originally planned. According to PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman, “The general elections will be held on time and the current government will complete its term”.
According to the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) Imran Khan, the only solution to overcome the present political turmoil in the country was to organize clean and transparent elections immediately. The ousted PM stated, “There is only one way [to rid the country of political instability] free and fair elections. When they were removing me, I had announced general elections, but the courts overturned my decision. I still believe it was the right call”.
Sheikh Rasheed, leader of the Pakistan Awami Muslim League (AML), announced last week that Asif Ali Zardari, co-founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had agreed to conduct general elections in October. According to the tweet from AML, the date for general elections, not by-elections, had been set. According to media reports, elections will be conducted in October under a new electoral commission, and an interim government will be established soon.
