Elections to be held on February 11, ECP informs Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that the general elections in the country will be held on February 11, 2024.

The date was shared with the Supreme Court by the ECP’s lawyer during the hearing of petitions calling for timely polls across the country. 

“Elections in the country will be held in the country [after] completion of delimitation on November 30,” ECP’s lawyer Sajeel Swati told the three-member bench.

The bench consists of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan. This was the second hearing the three-member bench was holding on the petitions.  

The ECP’s lawyer, while sharing the schedule with the apex court, said that all arrangements including delimitation will be completed by January 29. 

Explaining the delimitation process, the lawyer said it would take them 3 to 5 days to issue the final lists. He added that if 54 days are counted from December 5 then we get January 29 date.

The lawyer said that the ECP was looking to hold the polls on Sunday to make it easier for the people to participate in the elections. He added that under this plan the first Sunday would have fallen on February 4 and the second would be on February 11. 

“We decided on our own that elections should be held on Sunday, February 11,” said the lawyer. 

On hearing this, CJP Isa directed the lawyer to ask the chief election commissioner to consult the president and get back to the court. 

The Supreme Court then adjourned the hearing of the case till 2pm.

Ambiguity over polls

The country has been gripped in political uncertainty ever since the Imran Khan government was removed through a no-confidence motion in April 2022.

The Shehbaz Sharif-led government, that took over from Khan, dissolved the National Assembly on August 9, while Sindh and Balochistan assemblies were also prematurely dissolved to allow the electoral authority to hold elections in the country within 90 days.

Had the assemblies been dissolved on time, the electoral body was constitutionally bound to hold polls in 60 days.

However, the ECP decided against holding polls within the stipulated time as the Council of Common Interest (CCI), days before the dissolution of the assemblies, approved the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023.

The CCI approval made it mandatory for the commission to hold elections following fresh delimitations in light of the results of the census.

Subsequently, on August 17, the ECP announced the schedule of new delimitations to be carried out as per the new census results.

But in September, the commission announced that general elections in the country would take place in the last week of January 2024.

In the same month, the ECP also released the provisional report on the delimitation of constituencies. However, before the announcement, multiple petitions were filed in the Supreme Court against the delay in polls.

All the petitioners had asked the apex court to ensure that polls are held within 90 days.

These petitions were filed during the tenure of former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, however, they were not fixed for a hearing.

PPP, PML-N hail ECP announcement of polls date

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), two major political parties of the country, have welcomed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announcement that elections in the country will take place on February 11, 2024.

In a major development on Thursday, the ECP’s lawyer informed the Supreme Court’s three-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa that polls will take place in on February 11.

Following the ECP’s announcement, PPP’s Nayyer Bukhari has said that his party has been calling for holding timely elections.

“Unelected individual or cabinet do not have right to rule the country… the elections should have been held within 90 days as per the Constitution,” he said while speaking to Geo News.

Bukhari said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is answerable to the people and the Supreme Court for not holding elections within 90 days of the dissolution of the assemblies.

Responding to a question, the PPP leader said the caretaker government’s conduct will establish whether all political parties are given level-laying field.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ayaz Sadiq welcomed the announcement saying that it’s a positive development that the process to hold elections has commenced.

However, he said fixing date polls is the mandate of the ECP.

PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui told Geo News that the ECP announcement is a positive development as it will ensure stability in the country.

“I welcome this development even more because the announcement came from Supreme Court which has increased its sanctity,” he remarked.

He said it will be difficult for the ECP to backtrack on this date since the polls date was shared with the country’s top court.