ECP reiterates commitment to complete delimitation process by December 14

CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja once again reassures of timely and transparent elections as per Cconstitution

Web Desk

August 30, 2023

The board outside the premises of the Election Commission of Pakistan. — ECP website/File

Sikandar Raja assures of reducing time duration for delimitations.
Chief election commissioner meets BAP, BNP and ANP delegations.
Elections to be transparent and as per Constitution, says CEC Raja.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has once again reassured of its commitment to finish the all-important delimitation process by December 14 to ensure timely elections in the country.

The top electoral body, as part of its ongoing consultation process with various political parties, met with delegations from the Awami National Party (ANP), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Balochistan National Party (BNP), read the official statement issued by the ECP.

During the huddle presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, the ANP's delegation led by Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Zahid Khan communicated their demand for elections to be held within 90 days as per the constitution — a proposition echoed by the BAP delegation as well.

In his response, the chief election commissioner reassured the ANP representatives that the electoral body would try to further reduce the time required for the delimitation process.

Meanwhile, objecting to the recent census results, BAP's delegation opposed new delimitations as it could lead to discrepancies with political parties, candidates, and the public.

The BNP delegation also accentuated its reservations and was of the view that the new delimitation process would not be beneficial as the census results were inaccurate and failed to reflect Balochistan's actual population.

The development comes as the country's top electoral body has held meetings with major political parties in order to create a consensus for the upcoming general elections.

The ECP had already held meetings with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).