By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election commission said on Friday it would speed up the process of redrawing electoral boundaries and updating voter lists to hold general elections as early as February next year, after meeting with the main opposition party.
The commission’s spokesman said in a statement that it aimed to complete both tasks by mid-December and dismissed rumours that it would delay the polls until the new constituencies were finalised.
The decision, if implemented, would mean that the elections could be held in early 2024.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which handed over a coalition government to the caretaker setup after the completion of the five-year term of the parliament on August 9th, welcomed the commission’s plan and said it expected the polls to be held in February.
“Count 54 days after December 14 and you can guess the election date,” one of its leaders told reporters after meeting with the election officials.
The PML-N also said it had agreed with the commission that the elections would be based on the new census results, which had been approved by a constitutional body that resolves disputes between the federal and provincial governments.
The party suggested some measures to ensure a fair and transparent election process, such as reviving the consultation on the code of conduct, banning hate speech, limiting campaign expenses, and appointing impartial returning officers.
It also proposed that the media campaign should be run by the parties, not by individual candidates.
The chief election commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raja, told them that he would consult all political parties on these matters before finalising them.
Raja also assured the PML-N that he would ensure a level playing field for all parties and candidates and take strict action against any violation of the code of conduct.
Ahsan Iqbal, the secretary general of PML-N, said that they had given their suggestions to keep the election expenses under control and make the code of conduct effective.
The former minister said they had also raised their concerns about the transparency of the election results, especially after the controversy over the results transmission system in 2018.
Iqbal said the ECP has said that a new automated system was being developed to monitor and compile the results. “They assured us that there would be no repeat of 2018.”
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