ISLAMABAD: After holding a number of consultations with the political parties, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that the delimitation process will be finalised by November 30.
In a statement, the electoral body said the purpose of squeezing the duration of the delimitation process is to ensure elections are held as early as possible.
The ECP also said that a date for the elections will also be announced keeping in view the schedule for the delimitation process, adding that the date was announced after deliberation with the parties.
A day earlier, the Election Commission said that polls would be held by mid-February at the most or by January end if the delimitation of constituencies is completed earlier.
The Election Commission has held consultations with political parties including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Muttahida Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Jamiat Ulema Islam-Faiz (JUI-F) and others regarding the road map to general elections.
In those meetings, the JUI-F, PML-N and MQM-P had backed the ECP to hold general elections after the delimitation while the PTI and PPP had urged the electoral watchdog to drop the process and conduct polls within 90 days.
On August 17, the ECP announced the schedule of new delimitations to be carried out as per the new census approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) last month.
According to the schedule, the new delimitation of the constituencies was expected to be completed in December. However, the date has now been shortened to November.
